City Of Fallen Angels
by GrittyRe-boot
Summary: AU: Desperate to make ends meet, struggling singer Rachel Berry takes a job as a limo driver for the biggest star in Hollywood, Finn Hudson. But she will soon find out that the notorious lothario isn't at all who she thinks he is. Now an M story.
1. Drive

**Yes I will finish Come closer, I'm not going to abandon it with one chapter left, but this idea has been cooking in my head for way too long. I had to get it online.**

**Just some info to keep you in the loop:**

**The time period is still the present day but the characters are roughly 23 instead of 16**

**Rachel, Mercedes and Kurt are Roommates, Rachel is a singer but she's struggling, Kurt is a set make-up artist, Mercedes is a law student, Sue is their landlord.**

**Finn is a big action star, Puck is his publicist, Mr. Schuester is his agent.**

**Quinn is a famous model, she is dating Finn but mostly for publicity reasons.**

**The other characters will probably be used, I just haven't figured out what to do with them yet.**

"You're insane Rachel, whatever happened to not settling for some dead end job?" Kurt said as Rachel buttoned up her dorky black vest.

"Insane would be to come all the way to LA just to have to move back because I can't pay my share of the rent," Rachel said as she began to fasten her bowtie.

"Rachel's right Kurt. I mean, sure it's not the dream job, but if it'll pay the bills then why not?"

"Stripping or selling drugs would pay the bills too, it doesn't mean she should do it Mercedes," Kurt said. "Compared to scraping the vomit of countless drunken teenagers off the back of a limo night after night selling drugs actually seems like the preferable option."

Rachel gave him a "that's what you think" look.

"What's that look all about?" Kurt said.

"Oh nothing" Rachel said suggestively.

"She's just excited because she gets to drive Finn Hudson to the People's choice awards tonight."

"Mercedes!" Rachel cried.

"What, he was going to find out eventually," Mercedes shrugged.

"How could you keep this from me? You know how much I love Finn Hudson, why do you think I voted against prop 8?"

"Because it's stupid and wrong?" Mercedes said.

"No, so me and Finn Hudson could legally marry and adopt an ethnic baby, did you not read my 20 year plan?" Kurt said.

"Okay, this is why I didn't tell you. If you stalk him I can lose my job," Rachel said.

"You have to introduce me, I'll give you my kidney," Kurt said.

"Whatever would I use it for?" Rachel said, still fussing with her bowtie.

"God, you're hopeless," Kurt said getting up to assist her with her bowtie. See what a good friend I am, helping you look sharp for your first day on the job."

"I can't introduce you Kurt," Rachel said, seeing right through him.

"Why not?" he pouted. "I introduced _you_ to Robert Pattinson that one time."

"Yeah, because you forgot my birthday. I can't introduce you because I doubt _I'll_ even be allowed to talk to him," Rachel said. "He'll probably raise the partition the first second he gets, I hear he's a real jerk."

"Those are dirty lies, the Finn Hudson I dream about at night is nothing if not the perfect gentleman," he said straightening Rachel's perfectly knotted bowtie.

"Kurt, I love you, but you're bordering on creepy," Mercedes said.

"Oh please if I were a girl it would be perfectly normal," Kurt said.

"You never get tired of pulling the gay card do you?" Mercedes said.

"I will when you get tired pulling the race card," Kurt shot back.

"So never then?" Mercedes said.

"Agreed," Kurt shrugged. "I don't get it Rachel, why would they give you such a big job your first day?"

"I have no idea, but I hear he personally requested a young, attractive woman," Rachel said. "It's just more glaring yet admittedly flattering evidence that he's a sexist pig."

"Come on, you're not that attractive," Kurt said.

"I resent that" Rachel snapped.

"I didn't mean it that way, you know I think you're stunning, but you're not exactly the typical Finn Hudson girl," Kurt said. "He's dating Quinn Fabray for god's sake. Although, I for one think that romance is a total cover."

"Whatever helps you dream about Finn Hudson at night," Mercedes teased.

"Come on Mercedes, no straight guy can play gay that convincingly," Kurt argued.

"I forgot about _Siren Songs,_" Rachel said. "He was actually really good in it, too bad he seems to have dedicated the rest of his career to brainless tripe like _Battleground 2_."

"You didn't like that one?" Kurt said.

"It was ridiculous, it was a new low even for Michael Bay," Rachel said.

"Yeah but Finn Hudson was shirtless through like the whole movie," Kurt argued.

"That boy's abs could cure cancer," Mercedes said.

"And his pecs could wipe out world hunger" Kurt said.

"Okay enough you guys," Rachel said. "I have to go. Promise you won't stow away in the trunk Kurt."

"I'll be good… this time" Kurt said, grabbing Rachel's hat and setting it atop her head for her. "Break a leg."

* * *

Rachel approached her shining black limousine, it wasn't her first time driving it, but it felt like the first. She didn't know why she was so nervous, she had met celebrities before, but this felt different. This was the first time she would be working so closely with one, she just wished it didn't have to be as his limo driver. She got into the front seat and took a deep breath before turning the key and putting the car in drive. She took deep breaths as she drove towards her destination, careful to watch the road. She knew it was stupid to be so anxious, it wasn't like she was chauffeuring Barbra or anything, this was just some dumb Hollywood beefcake who probably wouldn't give her the time of day. Most of his movies were terrible, although she had to admit he had crazy screen presence and would probably be a decent actor if given a chance to star in something good, like the little-seen indie film he did a few years back before he was famous. And as much is she hated to admit it, he was ridiculously gorgeous, the kind of gorgeous that made her weak in the knees, the kind of gorgeous that made her want to giggle and twirl her hair stupidly. Stop it Rachel, she thought to herself as she pulled up to his penthouse. He's practically your boss. She pulled the key out of the ignition and got out of the car to greet him. As he exited the front door flanked by bodyguards and ambushed by fans on all sides she caught a look at his face. If it was possible, he was even cuter in person. He greeted his fans and signed a few autographs before meeting her at the car.

Rachel extended her hand for him to shake. "Mr. Hudson, I'm Rachel Berry, I'll be your chauffer for the evening," Rachel said with with a surprising amount of confidence.

"Dude is she for real?" said the well-suited, smug looking guy standing next to Finn. He was about Finn's age and although he was built like a bodyguard he clearly wasn't one.

"Lay off her Puck it's her First day," Finn said, shaking Rachel's still extended hand. "It _is_ your first day right?"

Rachel simply nodded, enjoying the feeling of his big, strong hand in hers too much to say anything.

"Aren't you supposed to open the door or something?" Said the gorgeous blonde on Finn's Arm. She hadn't noticed Quinn before, she was way too focused on her stunningly handsome sort of boss, but god was she pretty. She was so pretty it almost wasn't fair.

"Um, yes of course," Rachel said, letting go of Finn's hand and opening the door for him and his Entourage.

Real smooth Berry, Rachel thought to herself as she shut the door behind them.


	2. Image

Finn looked in the mirror as he buttoned his black Armani shirt and wondered tie or no tie. He'd received a nice gray one from Ralph Lauren that would work. Quinn had hooked him up with her personal stylist Sandy, he was a creepy bastard and Finn couldn't help but feel like he was scoping him out every time he tried on clothes, but he seemed to know a lot about fashion. Finn had been in all of the best dressed lists lately and as much as he hated to admit it he kind of felt proud. Gone was the awkward high schooler in the ratty blue and brown sweater.

"What do you think Quinn? Tie or no Tie?"

"Hmm," she said, cocking her head to the side. I'm thinking no tie, but you're going to have to undo your top buttons."

"Good call" he said setting the charcoal hued tie to the side. "Wow, you look really nice" he said catching a look at Quinn in her strapless blue dress.

"Thanks, Sandy picked it out."

"He's gay right?"

"All the best stylists are."

"Hmm, that explains a lot."

"Mr. Hudson" said Tina, Finn's personal assistant.

"How many times do I have to tell you, call me Finn."

"Sorry, Finn" She blushed. "Your Limo driver just quit"

"Mike quit? Why?"

"He got a modeling gig with Calvin Klein, doesn't surprise me, he has great abs," Tina said, blushing even more.

"I knew there was something going on with you two," Finn said giving her a gentle punch to the shoulder

"It was just a fling, but boy can that man—

"Tina, not appropriate work conversation" Quinn cut in. "What are we going to do about a driver?"

"I got that covered," Tina said, "Your usual service was available at such short notice but she's a new driver."

"She?" Puck said, entering the room "First an Asian dude now a chick? Tina it's like you're actively trying to kill us."

"You do realize I'm both Asian and a woman right?" Tina said.

"Yeah, why do you think I've never let you park my Audi?" Puck said.

Tina just rolled her eyes. "Oh, and I booked DJ wheels for the after party," She continued

"How did you swing that one? He's always booked for months," Finn said.

"Well, I'm sort of dating him," Tina said coyly.

"Geez, Tina you really get around" Finn said. "Oh, not to say that you're easy or anything I just meant, um… uh… good for you Tina."

"Thanks" Tina said, barely able to contain her laughter she loved catching GQ's man of the year in his awkward rambles.

"So, you losers ready?" Puck said, putting on his designer sunglasses.

* * *

Finn, Puck and Quinn piled into the back of the Limo as Rachel walked around to the front.

"Dude, our new driver's kind of hot," Finn whispered over to Puck careful not to let Rachel or especially Quinn hear.

Puck shrugged, "Yeah, I'd do her"

"Do who?" Quinn said, breaking out her Droid.

"Um, uh Tina," Finn said unsure of why he thought that would be better.

Rachel tried not to listen in on their conversation, it was one of the main rules the limo company went over with her, but she didn't have to try very hard as Puck raised the partition the first second he got.

"Speaking of hot, you know Santana Lopez?" Puck said.

"Yeah, what about her?" Finn said.

"Well, she's been asking about you left and right. And by that I mean her publicist has been asking about you left and right."

"Oh, does she want an audition or something? You know how I feel about models trying to act, no offense Quinn," Finn said.

"None taken," she said, texting away.

"I was thinking more along the lines of a high profile date," Puck said nudging him.

"Isn't she a lesbian? I mean that whole hot tub thing with that Laker girl…"

"Brittany Pierce was just a drunken mistake, or at least that's what the press is going to think once you come into the picture," Puck said.

"No, thanks man, I mean, I'm dating Quinn."

"Actually about that Finn, I think we should break up," Quinn said nonchalantly, not looking up from her texting.

"Wait, what?" He said, clearly shocked.

"Don't get me wrong, I think you're great but we're not exactly the it couple anymore. We only got one page in the last Enquirer and it was about my handbag," she said, finally putting away her Droid.

"But, I thought…"

"Finn, you knew starting out that us dating was just a publicity thing."

"Yeah, at the beginning maybe…"

"Dude, hold that thought, we're here," Puck said.

"Come on Finn," Quinn said, taking his arm. Still in shock, Finn couldn't help but follow her onto the red carpet.

* * *

Finn almost faked sick to get out of the after party. He and Quinn hadn't had much of a chance to talk the entire night and he was still confused about their abrupt break-up. He wasn't the smartest guy in the world, but he thought that things between them were going great. He had never fallen so hard for a girl before, and knowing that it was all a lie was too much to take. He took a shot of tequila before approaching Quinn, who was in the middle of chatting with Zachary Quinto.

"Quinn, we need to talk," Finn said, grabbing her arm.

"Finn, can't you see I'm having a conversation?" Quinn said.

"This will just take a second, loved you in Star Trek, live long and prosper," Finn said before taking Quinn off to the side.

"Something wrong Finn?" Quinn said.

"Yeah, what's all this about us breaking up? I mean, I thought you cared about me."

"I do," Quinn said, rubbing his arm affectionately. "But I'm 23. That's 45 in model years, if I want to survive in this industry I need to stay relevant. And you, this is a really important time in your career right now, you're image is key Finn."

"Screw my image Quinn, I want to be with you," He said, pressing his lips to hers.

"Finn stop," She said, pushing him away. "You're drunk."

"I am not, well maybe a little, but I meant every word."

"Finn, trust me, you're going to be so much happier without me."

"As Santana Lopez's beard? Doesn't seem likely."

"Finn, I promise you'll get through this. I was the same way when I broke up with Robert Pattinson, but I got over it and my career skyrocketed."

"You really don't get it do you?" he said shaking his head and turning away.

"Where are you going?" Quinn yelled after him.

"Away!" he answered bolting through the door.

Finn found Rachel leaning against the Limo, flipping through a paperback copy of Les Mis.

"Mr. Hudson, is everything alright?" she said looking up to see him marching towards her in a huff. "Where are your friends?"

"Inside, hey, do you think you can get me out of here?" He said.

"Well, you have me for the rest of the night." She said, opening the door for him. "Um, where did you want to go?"

"Anywhere but here."


	3. Discovery

Rachel kept glancing at him through her rearview mirror, he didn't even look that sad after his wife died in his arms in _Battleground 1. _Surprising as it was he didn't seem at all like the cocky ass she'd imagined. He seemed… human.

"Mr. Hudson I don't mean to pry, in fact I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to, but did something happen tonight?" Rachel said, Finn didn't respond, he just sat there. "Are you going to close the partition now?"

"No, it's okay. I just have a lot on my mind. It's kind of a weird feeling," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Can you answer me a question Rachel? Is it alright if I call you Rachel?"

"Sure," she said.

"Are all women evil or is it just the famous ones?"

"Well I don't know any famous women, but I hope to be one very soon, so I can only hope it doesn't have some sort Jekyll and Hyde effect on me," she said.

"Oh, so you're an actress?"

"I'm a singer," Rachel corrected.

"Oh yeah? That's cool."

"So, have you decided where you want to go?" Rachel said.

"Well, I'm kind of hungry, do you like hot dogs?"

"I don't eat meat. But I'm quite partial to tofu dogs," Rachel said, surprised that he gave a damn about what she liked to eat.

"Well, Pinks has a great tofu dog, or so I've heard."

"I've never eaten there."

"Are you kidding? Did you just move here or something?"

"If you call four years just moving here."

"Are you serious? Well you're in for a treat."

Rachel typed Pink's into the GPS. "Well, it isn't too far from here. I'll have you there in no time."

"Thanks Rachel," he said. Rachel glanced into her rearview mirror again, in spite of the friendly conversation she could tell that Finn was hurting and she wished she knew what to say to make him feel better.

"Mr. Hudson?"

"Yeah."

"I hope you know that it's her loss."

"What?" he said.

"Whenever a boy would break my heart my dads would say 'it's his loss.' It always made me feel better."

"Thanks," he said, smiling weakly. "That does make me feel better. Wait, did you just say 'dads.'"

"Yes, I have two gay fathers."

"Wow, that's really LA."

"Actually it's really Lima Ohio."

"Shut up, you're from Lima?"

"Born and raised."

"I'm from Carmel, I'm surprised we never ran into each other," Finn said.

"Maybe we did and you just don't remember," she shrugged.

"Nah, I think I'd remember you," he said, making Rachel blush.

"Well, we're here," she said, pulling up to the crowded hot dog stand. "Did you want me to go get you one? With this crowd it might be a bit overwhelming."

"I'm used to it, besides the line is like a half a mile long, that's torture when you're by yourself. Why don't you park the car? I'll be right back." As he jumped out of the Limo screams of "Oh my god it's Finn Hudson!" could be heard from every person surrounding the stand.

Rachel parked the car and stepped out, leaning against it. She could still hear the commotion over Finn and secretly wondered how she'd handle that kind of attention. She was used to getting her picture taken being in pretty much every club in high school, but other than that she went largely ignored, a loser to the core.

"Okay Rach time to haul ass" Finn said, running up to the limo after a few short minutes, a hot dog in either hand. He wasn't lying before, he took no time at all getting back. Rachel quickly ran over to the his side to open the door for him before the screaming fans could catch up, then she ran around to her side and got in, turning on the engine and speeding off as fast as she could without endangering their lives.

"That was fast," she said

"One of the perks of fame, no waiting in line. Why don't you park right there?" he said pointing to an empty spot near the curb. "I think the fans have stopped chasing the limo."

Rachel pulled up to the curb and parked where he said.

"So you want to come back here? Eat with me?" Finn said.

"I don't think I'm allowed" Rachel said sheepishly.

"I won't tell if you won't"

"If you insist," she shrugged. She got out of the limo and got into the back, sitting across from him.

"Lord of the Rings dog for me, Pat Morrison's Baja veggie dog for you… sorry it doesn't have a cooler name." he said, handing the hot dog to Rachel. She unwrapped the foil and took a bite.

"Wow, this is delicious," she said.

"See, I told you," he said removing one of the onion rings from his hot dog and biting into it. "So, a singer huh?"

"Yeah, I used to sing at Club Phoenix two nights a week before it went under. That's why I took this job," she said, taking another bite of her veggie dog.

"Are you any good?" Finn said, covering his half-full mouth.

"I'm okay," she shrugged, taking another bite.

"Prove it" he said.

She swallowed the bite of hot dog. "You want me to sing?"

"It'll cheer me up. But, it's okay it you're too nervous," he said.

"I don't get nervous," she said setting down the half eaten tofu dog. "What would you like me to sing Mr. Hudson?"

"Do you know any Journey?" he said.

"Of course I know journey" She cleared her throat and began to sing.

_Winter is here again oh Lord,  
Haven't been home in a year or more  
I hope he holds on a little longer  
Sent a letter on a long summer day  
Made of silver, not of clay  
Ooh, I've been runnin' down this dusty road_

As Finn started to sing along Rachel smiled and continued.

_Ooh, the wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'  
I don't know where I'll be tomorrow  
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'_

_I've been trying to make it home_  
_Got to make it before too long_  
_Ooh, I can't take this very much longer, no_  
_I'm stranded in the sleet and rain_  
_Don't think I'm ever gonna make it home again_  
_The mornin' sun is risin'_  
_It's kissing the day_

_Ooh, the wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'_  
_I don't know where I'll be tomorrow_  
_Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'_

_Whooa... My, my, my, my, my... For tomorrow_

"Wow, Rachel…" he said as they finished.

"What?" she said sheepishly.

"That was a hell of a lot better than okay."

"Well, you're not bad yourself." She said picking up her hot dog and taking another bite.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to get into it," he said, actually blushing.

"That's okay, it was fun. I never knew you could sing."

"That's because I've never told anyone. But you, you're amazing. You should be a lot more famous than I am that's for sure."

"It's not exactly easy."

"Tell me about it, but don't worry, you're going to be just fine. That voice isn't going to stay hidden for long."

Rachel blushed, "Thank you Mr. Hudson, you're very kind."

"Call me Finn" he said, before popping the last bit of hot dog into his mouth.

"Okay, Finn" she said liking the way it sounded. She finished the last of her veggie dog and crumpled up the foil.

"Hey, you got a little guac right… there" he said wiping the small bit of excess guacamole off of her top lip.

"Oh thank you," she said timidly, she was lying before, she had never been more nervous in her life. She wanted to kiss him, he'd never had that effect on her when she watched his movies, but he was so different in person. He was sweet and considerate and actually a bit of a dork.

"Did you want me to take you home now?" She said instead of leaning in and closing the distance between the two of them. She didn't want to take him home, but she also didn't want to do anything she'd regret either. He ordered an onion ring hot dog, clearly kissing her, or anyone for that matter, was the furthest thing from his mind.

"You know I think I can hang for awhile, if you don't mind."

"No," she said, smiling sweetly. "I don't mind"


	4. Thoughts

Rachel Literally couldn't stop smiling, but it wasn't from lack of trying. It wasn't as if anything happened, or was going to happen. Besides, she wasn't the type of girl to chase after movie stars like some kind of desperate groupie nutjob. Still, she had just spent two hours in the back of Finn Hudson's limo, talking like she'd known him for years. And if he was a middle school teacher or a travel agent she had no doubt in her mind that she'd still feel like ravaging his body like it was the last thing she'd ever do.

"Thanks for hanging out with me Rachel, you're really cool," Finn said as Rachel parked in front of his penthouse.

"It was a pleasure, really. Besides I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to gloating, my roommate's totally in love with you," she joked.

"Oh yeah, what's her name?"

"Kurt," Rachel said matter-of-factly.

"Oh," Finn said knitting his brow. Rachel smiled and climbed out of the car.

"I was just kidding about the gloating," She said. "Tonight will stay between you and me, I promise," she said as she opened the door for him.

"No worries, I trust you," he said. "So…"

"So?" she said. Without realizing it she began to twirl her hair.

"Goodnight Rachel," he said extending his hand.

"Goodnight Mr. Hu— I mean Finn," she said removing her fingers from her hair and shaking his hand. He turned around and began to walk towards his front door. Rachel shrugged and started around the car.

"Hey Rachel?" Finn called. She looked back up at him hopefully.

"Yes?"

"Do you have any plans Thursday?"

Oh my god is he asking me out? She thought, "Um, n-no, no plans," she stammered.

"I'm doing Good Day LA, maybe you wouldn't mind driving me again? I can have Tina call the service."

"Sure," she said, "anytime," It wasn't a date, but he wanted to see her again, which for the time being was enough.

* * *

"Tell me everything" Kurt said as Rachel entered the apartment.

"Kurt it's almost four in the morning, what are you doing up?"

"That's right, it's four, you were supposed to be back by two, what happened?"

"Nothing, he and his entourage wanted to go to this after-after party at Jay-Z's so I figured I could use the overtime, no big deal," she lied.

"Oh my god did you get to talk to him, is he just as gorgeous in person?"

"Kurt how is it that you meet celebrities every day at your job and still act like some star struck basket case over Finn?"

"Finn? So are you like on a first name basis now?" Kurt Pried.

"No," she lied again.

"Come on, I literally have not slept, you have to give me something"

"He was very nice, the perfect gentleman," Rachel said coolly.

"I knew it. I hate to say I told you so…"

"Then don't. I'm going to bed, sweet dreams Kurt," she said, kissing him on the cheek.

"Don't think I'm not going to grill you more when you wake up," Kurt said.

"I'm prepared," Rachel said disappearing into her room. That night Kurt wasn't going to be the only one dreaming of Finn.

* * *

Finn rubbed his eyes groggily before glancing at his clock, it was nearly noon. He couldn't have been happier to be between movies, the extra sleep was definitely necessary after the night before. Part of him always knew that Quinn wasn't forever, but he had gotten so comfortable with her. It was lonely in the spotlight and just having someone to talk to and be with was nice. Sure he could find someone else, but if every girl was just going to use him to boost her image then what was the point? But as bad as the breakup had been, the night could have been a lot worse. He wasn't sure how he'd gone from getting brutally dumped to having a jam session in the back of his limo with his cute driver, but he had to admit that it was kind of nice, better than nice. He had never met someone so talented before, and as hard as he tried he couldn't get her voice out of his head. Even Quinn didn't invade his thoughts that much.

Just as he wondered whether to get out of bed or enjoy what was left of the morning his phone rang. He checked the caller ID, it was his agent, Will. Before making it in show business he'd heard nothing but bad things about agents, but Will was pretty cool. He didn't know how he would have made it his first couple of years without him.

"Hey Will," Finn said picking up his phone.

"So he is alive," Will said. "I've been calling and calling what happened to you?"

"Quinn dumped me," Finn said.

"I'm sorry to hear that Finn, are you okay?"

"I'm surviving, I probably should have seen it coming but I guess I got a little too into the fantasy."

"It happens man, but I do have some good news. You know that Coen Bros. movie you screen tested for?"

"Oh yeah, the one with the script I didn't understand until you told me that the buried treasure was a metaphor for the guy's dead wife or something."

"Yeah, that one. Well, it's not official yet but I think you may have landed this one. Expect a call from the exec producer today."

"Are you serious?"

"Congratulations Finn, you're finally being taken seriously as an actor."

"That's awesome!" Finn exclaimed. "Wait, people don't take me seriously?"

"Look I have to go, Emma wants me to go look at some changing tables with her" Will said, changing the subject. "I guess none of the 40 we looked at the other day made the grade."

"Wait, before you go, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot,"

"Do you work with anyone in the music industry, like agents or producers?"

"Not personally, why? Are you pulling a J-Lo on me?"

"No, it's not for me," Finn said. "There's this girl, my driver actually. She's an amazing singer, she's like an angel crossed with a Spice Girl."

"Sounds like someone has a crush," Will said. "Is she cute?"

"Well, yeah, really cute actually. But it's not like that," he insisted. "I just want to help her, she should be playing packed shows not driving me around."

"This is good Finn, helping other people is a great way to get your mind off of Quinn," Will said. "I'll see what I can do, but I won't make any promises. So don't go jumping the gun and telling this girl that's she's going to be famous."

"I wouldn't do that, I know how much it sucks getting your hopes up over nothing," he said sadly. "Thanks for helping me out man. Good luck with the baby table thing."

"I'm going to need it," Will sighed. "Talk to you later."

"Later," Finn said shutting his phone.

**Yay for quick updates! And yes, I promise that some Finn/Rachel lovin' is on the way (this may actually turn into an M story later). You just have to bear with me for a couple of chapters, build-up is key.**


	5. Compromise

"Where the hell were you last night dude?" Puck said as Finn joined him for coffee.

"I had to bail early… I had a headache," Finn lied.

"How the hell are you an actor?"

"Okay, I was upset about Quinn, sue me," Finn admitted.

"Jesus dude, are you sure you had a headache and not menstrual cramps?"

Finn glared at him. "Look I know you work for me and everything but do you think you could at least pretend to be my friend?"

"Friend? Dude I'm your publicist, I'd break your legs with a baseball bat if I thought it would get you a decent weekend opening."

"Well at least you're honest."

"Look, Quinn's a babe, I'll give you that but there are plenty of babes out there, your last three girlfriends were Blake Lively, Rihanna and Megan Fox for Fuck's sake."

"I've talked to Megan Fox like three times dude, and I'm pretty sure she's the only girl on the planet who's actually dumber than me."

"The point is we're trying to sell an image here. Guys want to be you, girls hate you because they secretly want to fuck you, that's your persona. If you go around acting like a crybaby bitch over every hot girl who dumps you then you can lose everything."

"I don't know man, I'm just tired of it. I feel like I got into this business for all of the right reasons and I've been successful for all of the wrong ones," he said dourly. "I actually like to act, I'm good at it, but all anyone cares about is what girl I'm supposedly sleeping with."

"Dude, guys like you don't win Oscars, they make shitty movies, bang supermodels and make their publicists rich."

"Guys like me? What kind of guy am I?"

"I didn't mean it that way man, I'm just saying it's tough out there bro, and right now you can't afford to have an identity crisis. Maybe when you're 40 but not now"

"Hold that thought" he said as his phone started to vibrate. "Hello?" he answered.

"Hello this is Robert Graf, I'm calling about your screen test for _'The Dead Folk'_"

"Yeah, I heard I would be hearing from you, I have to say I'm really excited about doing this movie."

"That's the thing, we've actually decided to go in a different direction for our second lead."

"But, I thought…"

"I'm going to tell you the truth and I promise I'm not just saying this," Robert said. "Your audition was a revelation, when I heard the name Finn Hudson I was skeptical, but I was incredibly impressed with you, we all were."

"I don't get it, those all sound like good things," Finn said confusedly.

"They are good things, but when it came down to it you just didn't fit the character. Arthur Fox is supposed to be this bitter, broken kid, and frankly, no matter how good of an actor you are you still look like an Abercrombie model."

"I can do bitter and broken, I can, just let me prove it to you," Finn pleaded.

"Look, it's not all bad news. Joel and Ethan would still like to work with you. We think you'd be perfect for the role of the traveling salesman."

"But I'd only be in the first and last scene."

"It's a very important cameo. I know this is a disappointment so I'll give you some time to consider."

"So, can I ask who got the part?" Finn said.

"Well, it was between you and Anton Yelchin."

"Anton Yelchin, yeah he's good I guess," Finn said dejectedly.

"I really am sorry Finn," Robert said.

"Yeah, I am too," Finn said before snapping his phone shut.

"Dude, that sucks, what part was it?" Puck said, clearly unabashed about listening in.

"The second lead in the new Coen Bros. movie."

"Well, you can't win 'em all," Puck said.

"So, you're the career expert, what's my next move?"

"Two Words, Santana Lopez."

* * *

Rachel had never had a problem getting up early, but today nothing could have kept her in bed, she'd been waiting all week to see Finn again. She sat at the breakfast table in her usual spot, sipping her morning smoothie and reading the latest Variety, inwardly hoping to run across some Finn news that wasn't about Quinn. It had been less than a week since they broke up and the news was already all over the celebrity gossip websites and tabloids. It was unavoidable.

"So, anything interesting?" Kurt yawned, taking his seat across from Rachel. When they were in high school she got used to Kurt being perfectly dressed and groomed on a daily basis, but now that they shared the same apartment she had become quite accustomed to his bedhead.

"It looks like your heterosexual paramour is in talks to appear in the latest Coen Bros. movie."

"Are you serious?" Kurt said, ripping the magazine from Rachel's hands. "For the first time in six years I'll be able to look at Finn Hudson and be intellectually stimulated at the same time."

"What are you doing up so early?" Rachel said.

"I'm doing make-up for a Sci-Fi original movie, the whole process takes three hours and they need to start shooting by ten. What about you?"

"I'm driving Finn to a morning talk show," she said, trying not to blush or smile too much.

"God, that first name thing is driving me crazy, I swear if you don't introduce me soon I'm going to lose it."

"Okay, okay. I'll ask him but please don't be upset with me if he can't do it."

"Scout's honor" Kurt said, raising his right hand.

"Okay, I'm off," Rachel said putting her hat on and heading towards the door, but as she opened it a very tall, intimidating-looking woman blocked her path.

"Why hello there, so funny we're running into each other like this," Sue said, "It must be a coincidence because it certainly has nothing to do with the fact that I have to practically haunt you to get my rent money on time, because that would imply that you, Ms. Berry, are an unsatisfactory tenant and I don't allow shelter to unsatisfactory tenants that doesn't come in cardboard box form. You know Patches who lives in the alley?"

"I know of him," Rachel said.

"Former tenant, now everytime he pushes his little shopping cart he's thinking of me and how he wishes he would have missed that baseball game that caused him to deliver his rent check three hours late, three hours I could have been spending buying exotic birds on ebay instead of hurling his possessions out of a fifth story window."

"Ms. Sylvester, It's taken care of, here is my third of the rent in full," she said, handing Sue a crisp white envelope.

Sue opened the envelope and studied the check. "Congratulations Berry, you live to enjoy indoor plumbing another day," Sue said before starting down the hall.

* * *

Rachel pulled up to Finn's Penthouse, relieved that there were only a couple of fans stalking him outside, it was six in the morning after all and even fanatics needed their rest. She smiled as Finn and an attractive Asian woman about his age walked towards the Limo. Rachel got out to greet him as he signed autographs for the two fans waiting outside.

"Hey Rachel," Finn said cordially.

"Good morning Finn," Rachel said, actively trying not to twirl her hair.

"Oh, this is my assistant Tina," Finn said. "Tina, this is my Driver Rachel."

"So, looks like things worked out well with the new girl after all, I can't wait to shove it in Puck's stupid face," Tina said, getting into the car. Finn followed Tina and Rachel shut the door behind him before taking her place in the driver's seat and starting off.

"So, what's new with you, are you enjoying the new job?" Finn said, seeming genuinely interested.

"What about your new Job, I read in Variety that you may be shooting a Coen bros. movie, is that true? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

"Yeah, it's true, but I'm thinking I'm not going to take it," Finn said.

"Why would you even consider not taking it? The Coens and Oscars are like peanut butter and jelly."

"Yeah, when you have an actual part not a five minute cameo," he groaned.

"Finn, at the risk of overstepping my boundaries can I be completely honest with you?"

"Go for it," Finn said.

"I think you're being very immature about this."

"Excuse me?" Tina cut in.

"No, it's alright Tina." Finn said. "What do you mean immature."

"Well, it just seems like a fantastic opportunity to break out of your shell creatively, and the Coens, not unlike many directors, are known for working with the same actors. Who knows, maybe next time they'll give you the role of a lifetime, one that would define your whole career and you'd be missing out because you can't handle not being in the spotlight for once in your life."

"I'm sorry but how long have you been in this business," Tina said snidely.

"Tina, I can handle it," Finn said.

"You're right, I'm not a famous actress but I know what it's like to feel like you're too good to not be the star, and I know for a fact how damaging that mindset can be," Rachel continued. "It may have been acceptable in high school but now I'd be happy just to sing back-up if I thought for one second it would get me where I wanted to go in my career."

There was only silence after that. Rachel always had a problem with reining in her big mouth, she just hoped that he wouldn't be too upset with her, or worse, have her fired.

"I'm sorry Finn I didn't mean to upset you," she said as they pulled up to the studio.

"You didn't," he answered, and with that he opened the door and hopped out without waiting for her to do it for him. Rachel wondered if she should get out after him or not, but instead decided just to go park the car and let him mull over what she had said.

Finn whipped out his cell phone and began to dial.

"I'm sorry Finn she was way out of line, you don't have to call the limo service I'll be happy to do it for you," Tina said frantically.

"I'm not calling the service," he said as the phone started to ring at the other end.

"This is Robert Graf" Robert answered.

"Robert, this is Finn Hudson, I'll take the part."


	6. Crush

**I can't believe I'm saying this but I've jumped ship. I'm way into Chang-Chang now (So much that I'm actually using a couple name, which I never, ever do). The story probably won't be affected that much since they are only referenced to as a couple, but I hope you're not too disappointed in me for my lack of loyalty. And don't worry, Finn and Rachel won't lose me that easily. My faith in them hasn't waned once, not even after Jesse came into the picture.**

It was a fairly standard interview, Finn plugged his upcoming movie and gracefully dodged questions about Quinn, following Puck's advice to let the public and the press jump to their own psycho conclusions about what happened. Not being able to tell the truth may have made him look shady but it was a lot easier than bearing his soul on television.

"Finn, you don't need me anymore today do you, Mike's picking me up for breakfast," Tina said.

"I thought you broke up with Mike," Finn said.

"Well it's still nice to hang out and talk about Asian stuff every once in awhile,"

"What does DJ Wheels have to say about that?" Finn teased.

"Well, we kind of parted ways, we were never officially together anyway. But we're still friends if you need me to book him for you and Rachel's wedding," she said slyly.

"Well that's good to kn— wait what?" Finn said.

"Come on Finn it's so obvious that you have a huge crush on her."

"I do not, why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Because you have a huge crush on her," Tina said matter of factly.

"Well, I think she's pretty and I like talking to her and she's super talented but that doesn't mean I have a crush on her."

"Actually it kind of does," Tina said. "Wait, what do you mean talented?"

"Well, the night me and Quinn broke up we… kind of sang together a little bit."

"You sing?" Tina said.

"Not like her. Tina, she's amazing I can't stop thinking about that night and her voice," Finn said almost dreamily.

"Oh my god, you do like her! That's so cute."

"Okay enough of that, I don't like her that way."

"Oh yeah?" Tina said, crossing her arms. "Then why do you look at her like you're picturing her in nothing but that chauffer's hat? And why did you specifically request for her to drive you today? And why did you suddenly change your mind about that movie just because she chewed you out?"

"Well she was kind of right," Finn shrugged.

"Maybe, but that's not the point. The point is she got to you, and she got to you because you like her."

"Okay, so I like her," he admitted. "I don't get what the big deal is, it's not like I'm going to act on it."

"Why, because she's not a supermodel?"

"You know me better than that Tina," Finn said. "It's because she works for me, it would be weird. It would be like you and me dating."

Tina mulled that thought over for a second. "Okay, you have a point, but she doesn't work for you, she works for the service. Just call them and tell them you don't want her to drive you anymore… wait that would be even worse."

"Way worse," Finn agreed, "Look, go to breakfast, I'll be fine. I've gotten over crushes before."

"Okay, well I'll see you tomorrow," she said opening the green room door to leave.

"You were wrong about one thing," he said.

"What?" She said turning back towards him.

"I was picturing her in nothing but the bowtie."

* * *

Rachel jumped as Finn made his way towards her. That had to have been the longest three hours of her life. She wasn't sure if Finn was angry with her or not but she hoped like mad that he wasn't. She was still kicking herself for being so forward with him. She was a bit of a busdybody to begin with but she never thought she would act so inappropriately at work. She was falling for Finn and it was making her stupid.

"Hi Finn, did everything go well?" Rachel said, trying to sound more confident than she felt.

"Yeah, it went fine, I hope it wasn't too boring out here for you though." he said, clearly not the least bit angry.

"No not at all," she said, giving him a huge, relieved smile. Why did she have to smile? He thought as he climbed into the car. Her smile was almost as beautiful as her voice, and it made the possibility of him getting over his crush seem a lot less likely.

"So I thought about what you said" Finn said as Rachel started back towards his penthouse. "I decided to take the part after all."

"You won't regret this" Rachel beamed. "Dame Judy Dench received an Oscar for an 8 minute role in _Shakespeare in Love_, Beatrice Straight won in the same category for a six minute performance in _Network_, and I personally received an overwhelmingly positive response for my turn as townsperson number one in the Allen County Community theatre production of _Oklahoma_. You'd be surprised how much of an impact you can have with very few scenes."

"You really know a lot about this stuff don't you?"

"Well, as someone who has practiced her Grammy speech since the age of three I'm extremely well-versed."

"You're also kind of the only one who's ever thought that I was good enough to win an Oscar."

"Well, certainly not based on your work within the Bruckheimerverse. But I must have seen _Siren Songs_ like 1,000 times, your performance as Bobby Granger was nothing short of exceptional."

"You're kidding, nobody saw that movie."

"It's Kurt's favorite," she said. "Speaking of which, and feel free to say no, but I may have promised him that I'd ask about a possible introduction. I realize it's a huge imposition and—

"Sure," Finn said, cutting her off.

"Really?"

"Yeah really, It's always nice to meet fans, especially ones who appreciate my underground stuff, I'll have Tina check my schedule."

"Thank you Finn, you have no idea how much this will mean to him."

"Wait, he doesn't think I'm gay does he? I mean, it _was_ just a movie."

"No he doesn't think you're gay, he just really hopes you are."

"Oh, well I guess I can live with that," He shrugged.

Rachel pulled up to Finn's penthouse and let him out of the car. "Until next time Finn," she said extending her hand for him to shake.

"Until next time" he said, taking her hand and looking deeply into her doe eyes. Even dressed in a penguin suit with a dorky hat she was gorgeous. He had thought she was kind of hot the first time he saw her, but now he could barely take his eyes off of her she was so pretty. And she wasn't the normal sort of pretty, she had the kind of beauty that slowly snuck up on a person, the kind that was imperfect and charming.

"Finn?" Rachel said quietly.

"Yeah?" he said, almost inaudibly.

"I kind of have another job to get to," just then he realized that he was still shaking her hand.

"Oh, sorry," he said letting her hand go and swiftly turning away from embarrassment. As he walked away Rachel sighed and started towards the driver's side door.

* * *

Finn didn't bother to change before he collapsed into his wide, cushy bed. He couldn't have been happier not to have plans for the rest of the day. He shut his eyes, eager to catch up with the sleep he had missed out on that morning, but before he could fall too deeply under a knock on the door stirred him awake. He groaned deeply as he got up to answer it, his irritation waning only when he saw who it was.

"Why hello Mr. Hudson" Rachel said sexily. "I think you forgot something in the car."

"What did I forget?" he said, rubbing his eyes.

"Me" she said before grabbing him by the collar and pressing her lips to his with crushing force.

"Rachel, what are you doing?" he said as he pulled away from her gently.

"What I've wanted to do ever since the first time you shook my hand" she said kissing him again and wrapping her legs around his midsection. Finn hesitated for a moment, wondering how she got in and what happened to the other job she had to get to before it dawned on him that Rachel was wrapped around his body, kissing him with abandon. He pushed off her hat, freeing her long, soft hair and began to kiss her back with passion and urgency.

"Do you want me Finn?" she whispered sultrily into his ear.

"Yes," he whispered.

"Let's lay down on the bed," she said.

"Okay," he said before gently lowering her onto his bed and pressing his lips to hers again. As he kissed her he reached for her bowtie and began to untie it, he tossed it aside and got to work on her buttons. When she was finally down to her bra he sat up and started to remove his own clothes while she began to pull down her pants. When they were both down to their underwear they collapsed into each other again, caught in a tangle of lips and hands and long, wild hair. Finn reached around to the back of her bra and unfastened it with a bit more effort than he felt proud of.

"Touch me" she whispered softly into his ear. He reached up and gently caressed her small, round breast with his large hand as he kissed her. "You can put your mouth there too if you want," she continued, her voice slightly muffled by his kisses. He accepted the offer, parting his mouth from hers and eagerly taking her pert nipple between his lips. She moaned softly as he ran his tongue back and forth across it, making her tremble with pleasure beneath him.

"Oh Finn I want you inside me so bad," she said wrapping her small hand around his erection and aiming it towards her moist separation, "too bad Puck's knocking on your door right now and you have to wake up."

Finn jolted awake to the sound of loud knocking on his door. He groggily wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and glanced at the clock, it was nearly four, he had slept for over six hours yet he cursed the fact that he couldn't have had a few more minutes.

"I'm coming." he groaned, wishing that were true in a different way. He got up to answer the door, still half asleep and highly irritated.

"Sup bro?" Puck said entering the sprawling apartment.

"I wonder how she knew it was you at the door." Finn said, still drowsy.

"What?" Puck said confusedly.

"Nothing, what are you doing here man?"

"I came to tell you the good news. Your break-up is finally public, so now Santana is fair game. She probably would have gone out with you before then but I guess she didn't want people thinking she's a lesbian and a homewrecker."

"Couldn't you have called?"

"I was in the neighborhood" Puck said going to Finn's refrigerator to grab a beer.

"I don't know about the Santana thing man, I mean my heads kind of a mess right no—

"Dude what the hell!" Puck interrupted, finally noticing the after effects of Finn's erotic dream. "Put that shit away."

Finn looked down confusedly. "Oh crap! Finn said, frantically pulling the corner of his shirt down over his massive erection.

"Please don't tell me you were dreaming about Quinn before I got here" Puck said.

"No, definitely not Quinn."

**I know I'm a jerk, the first semi-sexy scene and it was all a dream. I hope that was passable. I've never been good at descriptive prose, my forte is dialogue, so unfortunately my erotic scenes aren't exactly Harlequin level. It doesn't keep me from trying though.**


	7. Professional

Rachel arrived home to find Kurt and Mercedes in their usual spots, Mercedes was studying for her Final and Kurt was reading the latest Chuck Palahniuk paperback.

"Kurt, prepare to worship me even more than I'm sure you already do," Rachel said tossing her keys onto the in-table.

"Why?" Kurt said, not looking up from his book.

"Finn agreed to meet you, he just has to get his assistant to check his schedule."

"Are you kidding? Because if you're kidding I can't be held accountable for what I'll do to you," Kurt said excitedly.

"Nope, not Kidding" Rachel said, barely able to get the words out before Kurt wrapped her in a crushing hug.

"I'm going to go find the perfect outfit and then I'm going to erect a Jewish community center in your honor," Kurt said before retreating to his room.

"So I'm guessing work went well," Mercedes said, not looking up from her task of highlighting passages in her law book.

"Finn is so nice, I can't believe I misjudged him so harshly. When I inevitably make it big in the music industry I'll be sure to live by his example. It's so important to be gracious towards your fans."

"Rachel, I'm going to ask you a question and promise not to get offended, but are you out of your mind?"

"Excuse me?"

"Don't act like you don't know," Mercedes said. "You have a thing for your boss, your movie star boss."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rachel said unconvincingly.

"Mmm hmm, just be careful. We're talking about a guy who goes through hot little starlets like most people go through underwear, and I don't think any of us want to go through St. James the sequel. Make sure your heart is safe."

"My heart is behind an electrified fence with rabid dobermans and armed guards out front," Rachel said. "He's a great boss, but his rendezvous with so-called hot little starlets are of no consequence to me," she continued, not meaning a single word.

"Okay," Mercedes said, still looking skeptical. "Well, back to cramming." She grabbed her books off of the table and disappeared into her room.

Rachel knew that Mercedes had a point. Finn was a star, and just because he was nice to her didn't mean he was the least bit interested in her. Still she couldn't help thinking about him all the time and counting the minutes until the next time she would get to see him. It made it difficult to remain professional, but by some miracle he still seemed to like having her around, it couldn't have just been her impeccable driving… right?

* * *

"So, I'm shooting a commercial at the Getty sculpture garden on Wednesday, did you want to bring Kurt by at around ten?" Finn said as Rachel made her way through the heavy traffic. Finn was attending a wedding in San Diego that day which meant a very long drive, and Tina and Puck were nowhere in sight which meant Rachel would have to do everything in her power to keep her giddiness under control, and little did she know, so would Finn.

"That sounds great, so can I ask whose wedding you're attending? Kurt hasn't said anything about any celebrity weddings coming up, and Hollywood gossip is like crack to him so I know if there were than he would know."

"No, it's not a celebrity, it's my cousin Danny."

"Oh," she said, secretly wondering why he needed a limo to attend his cousin's wedding. Unbeknownst to her, Finn tried to resist the urge to call on Rachel for every little job, but it was exceedingly hard. It was difficult enough not thinking about her before his poorly timed sex dream but now it was damn near impossible. It had gotten to the point where he had strongly considered calling her to drive him to his last dentist appointment.

"So, no date I presume," she said, already struggling with the whole being professional thing.

"I'm going stag, I was going to take Tina as my plus one but she has a cold."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said, not the least bit sorry to hear that.

"What about you though? What's your situation? If you don't mind me asking."

"Well, I'm pretty focused on my career right now,"

"Driving?" he said stupidly.

"Yes, Driving around businessmen, wedding parties and promgoers is my lifelong passion," she said sarcastically. "I meant singing, getting out my demos and doing open mics seven nights a week is surprisingly draining."

"So you just never date, seems like kind of a waste for someone as pretty as you," he blurted, obviously also struggling with the being professional thing.

She was sure that she was now the brightest color of beet red that she had ever been. "Um, well I had one serious boyfriend, Jesse, but it didn't work out."

"What happened?" he said.

"Well, it was always Jesse's dream to go to New York and make it on Broadway, so one day he just packed up and did it, you know, completely spontaneous. I was supportive, he was two years older so I had to finish high school before I could go be with him. But we exchanged letters and emails and three hour phone calls, and I went to visit him as often as I could. I really thought that we were making the long distance thing work…"

"But?" Finn said.

"But Jesse is a very talented guy. It was only a matter of time before he got his big break. After he landed the role of Fiyero in Wicked the calls were fewer and farther between. He always came up with an excuse not to visit. It was like I was in the relationship by myself. I wasn't going to give up that easily though, so one Christmas Eve I decided to fly out there to surprise him and… I found him in bed with Galinda's understudy."

"Wow, Rachel I'm sorry, that sucks."

"It did indeed suck, but I moved on. After graduation I decided to come to LA to follow my own dreams, dreams that were much bigger than Jesse St. James… I'm sorry I shouldn't be telling you any of this."

"No, it's okay I'm glad to return the favor," Finn said. He couldn't imagine anyone ever cheating on Rachel, Jesse sounded like a real Jackass. "And Rachel, I hope you know it's his loss," Finn continued, making Rachel smile.

* * *

"Finn my man, it's been ages, what're you too busy fighting robots and terrorists to come see your favorite cousin?" Danny said getting Finn into a playful headlock.

"Come on man I visit plenty," Finn said.

"Yeah I guess," he said releasing Finn, "Okay, what's with the Limo?"

"What? Nothing, my car is in the shop" Finn said unconvincingly.

"Uh huh, I'm so sure Mr. Hollywood."

"Finn, you forgot your gift in the car," Rachel said, running up to Finn.

"Whoa, it all makes sense now," Danny said giving Rachel a once over.

"What all makes sense?" She said confusedly.

"Nothing, but I'll tell you what doesn't make sense, this one coming without a date."

"Well me and Quinn broke up so—

"What do you say?" Danny said to Rachel, interrupting Finn. "You want to wait out in the car all night or come spend an incredibly awkward evening with a bunch of strangers?"

"Um, I don't know," Rachel said nervously.

"That's actually not a bad Idea" Finn agreed, he didn't know how he managed to keep digging himself deeper with her, he meant it when he said he wasn't going to act on his feelings, but somehow fate was doing that for him, fate and his own stupid mouth. "How about it Rachel, did you want to be my date? I mean I would feel pretty stupid dancing with myself all night."

Yes, yes one thousand times yes! She thought to herself. "Well, I don't really have anything to wear," she said instead.

"Well, my sister's about your size, I'm sure she wouldn't mind, hey Gina!" Danny yelled before Rachel could protest.

"What?" said a similarly tiny blonde girl poking her head out from behind the fence.

"Would you mind giving this lovely lady something to wear for tonight? Your idiot cousin neglected to bring a plus one."

"Sure, come with me," Gina said. Rachel hesitantly obliged. This being professional thing was going to be even harder than she thought.


	8. Designated

**This looks like it's going to be my longest story yet, there are so many directions I see it going in and I won't stop until I've gone in all of them. I hope you don't mind sticking around for awhile.**

It was a mistake asking Rachel to be his date, a big idiotic mistake. Why did Gina have to give her that dress? It wasn't that the dress itself was all that special, the design was simple enough, but it wasn't until she put it on that Finn realized just how little her chauffer's outfit did for her ridiculously amazing body, especially those legs. Who would have thought that such a small girl would have legs that went on for miles?

"Her shoes didn't fit," Rachel said, pointing to her boxy black uniform shoes as she met Finn outside.

"It's okay, nobody's going to notice, I mean not to say that you aren't noticeable because you're very noticeable. Like, I'm noticing you right now… except for the shoes which I don't notice at all," he rambled.

She smiled, she still couldn't get over how big of a cute dork he was. "Are you sure this is okay Finn?" She said, taking his arm.

"Yeah, you look… awesome," he said, trying not to stare.

"Thank you, but I meant me being here with you, I wouldn't want to be an interloper."

"I don't really know what that means but trust me, you're doing me a really big favor," he answered. "What about you? This isn't too weird is it? I mean I know I kind of sprung it on you, it's just my family kind of… scares me a little."

"Why would they scare you?"

"Well it's mostly my mom, I'm her only kid and ever since I made it it's seems like she's always worried that I'm going to forget about her or something, I forgot to thank her in my Teen choice awards acceptance speech one time and she cried on the phone for an hour."

"Finn, honey!" a pleasant-looking older woman said, interrupting Finn.

"Hi mom," he said as she threw her arms around him.

"Oh my god it's been ages,"

"Mom it's been less than a month," Finn corrected.

"Well it feels like ages, but at least I can watch you on the DVD player any time I want," she said. "And now who is this?" she said, turning her attention towards Rachel.

"I'm Rachel Berry, it's lovely to meet you Mrs. Hudson, Finn's told me so much about you," Rachel said confidently.

"I have?" Finn said, confused, "I mean, I have. Yes we talk about you all the time," he continued, noticing Rachel's "just go with it" look.

"All good things I hope," Carole said.

"Well, I distinctly remember him mentioning that your culinary prowess is second only to your sparkling personality," Rachel gushed.

"Yeah, manwich night was always the best" Finn chimed in. "Culinary prowess means she's good at cooking, right?" he whispered to Rachel, who answered with a subtle nod.

"Oh honey that's so sweet," Carole said rubbing Finn's arm affectionately. "Well we should probably be taking our seats now, but we have a lot of catching up to do after the ceremony." With that she turned around and began looking for her seat.

"Thank you," Finn whispered to Rachel.

* * *

Weddings were torture enough for Finn without sitting in such close proximity to a beautiful girl that he wouldn't allow himself to have, it didn't help that she smelled insanely good and his height afforded him a direct view of her modest cleavage. Luckily the ceremony wasn't too long.

"I have to say Finn, Rachel seems lovely, but isn't she a bit short to be a supermodel?" Carole said as they enjoyed their meal.

"Mom I don't only date supermodels," he said. "Plus we're not dating she's just… a friend."

"Where did you two meet?" Carole said, not letting up.

"She's just a girl I know from work," he said vaguely

"Oh, so she's an actress."

"She's my driver" he blurted. "She drove me here today and me and Danny talked her into being my date, that's Gina's dress she's wearing."

"Well, that explains the shoes, but why would you need her to drive you to your cousin's wedding, unless… oh Finn."

"Mom it's not that big of a deal."

"Well just try not to make a fool out of yourself."

"Trust me, I'm trying really hard," he said under his breath.

"I really don't need a repeat of our last Christmas party,"

"I know— Wait, what?"

"Our last Christmas party? You got drunk and sang Don't Fear the Reaper to the kids. To be so tall you're a bit of a lightweight honey. At least you have a designated driver this time."

"Oh, right that's why she's here… designated driver. You know my table read starts early tomorrow or else I'd just stay over… because of my drunkenness," he rambled nervously.

"Well, it wasn't easy compiling a passable vegan dinner from the buffet selection but I must say I'm quite pleased," Rachel said, rejoining Finn and his mother at her table.

"You take care of him tonight, he's a national treasure," Carole said, finishing her meal and getting up to mingle with relatives.

"What is she talking about?" Rachel said.

"You know how I needed a designated driver? That's why I called you, Danny always tries to get me drunk at these things, and I needed a designated driver, that— that's why I called you." he rambled

"Oh," she said, sounding disappointed. "Yes, I did kind of wonder about that."

"But, you know I'm glad you're here for other reasons too," he said.

"Finn, would you like to dance with me," she said, perking up a little.

"I'm not really much of dancer, in fact I kind of suck."

"Well I happen to be a phenomenal dancer, I'm bound to rub off on you," She said grabbing his hand.

"What about your food?" he said.

"It can take care of itself," she said leading him out to the dance floor. "I really love this song. It's not exactly ideal for a wedding but it's nice."

"Yeah, Danny never should have let his kid brother DJ, but I guess it could have been worse, I went through a really big Sir Mixalot phase when I was 13."

"Nothing says I love you like a comical ode to immense posteriors," she joked.

"You know, I like the way you talk, it's like watching _Frasier_ or something," Finn said.

"Most people find it obnoxious, they find me obnoxious," she said.

"Well I can see how it could get kind of hard being around someone who's passionate about stuff, most people don't really care much about anything. I get the feeling you kind of care about everything."

"It can be pretty exhausting sometimes," she admitted.

"Yeah, but it's also sort of exciting," he shrugged. Rachel's only response was to smile, she loved how he had that effect on her.

"Oh, I love this part," she said after a few moments of comfortable silence. "_Think of me, youuu, you know that I'd be with you if I could. I'll come around to see you once in awhile, or if I ever need a reason to smile, and spend the night if you think I should_," she sang along softly.

Finn smiled and pulled her in tighter, hoping she didn't notice how furiously his heart was beating.

"Well, thank you for dancing with me" She said sweetly as the song ended and she stepped away.

"Sorry for stepping on your feet all those times."

"I barely noticed, I suppose these shoes came in handy after all," she said, "Would you excuse me for a second, too many cokes" she said, turning away.

"Hey Finn my man," Danny said, sauntering up to him with a drink in each hand, how about you join me for a private toast," He handed Finn one of the glasses. "To my beautiful bride Angelica and all of the smoking hot women out there that I'm going to try really hard not to cheat on her with."

"You better not she's a good girl," Finn said, taking the glass but not downing it.

"Come on dude it's a toast, you have to drink."

"I guess it couldn't hurt, Bottom's up," Finn shrugged, taking the shot.

* * *

Luckily Finn's excuse didn't turn out to be so dishonest after all, toward the end of the night he wasn't exactly passing out but he was definitely drunk enough to warrant Rachel's services.

"_Season's don't fear the reaper, nor do the wind the sun or the rain, we can be like they are, come on baby, don't fear the reaper, baby take my hand, don't fear the reaper, we'll be able to fly, don't fear the reaper, baby I'm your man_" Finn sang as Rachel led him to the car, once again wearing her chauffer's uniform.

"Don't worry Mrs. Hudson, I'll make sure he gets home safe and sound," she yelled over her shoulder to Carole.

"You tell him to call me tomorrow, and make sure he has some coffee." Carole yelled back before reentering the house.

"You know Rachel I really like you, like a lot," he said as she helped him into the car.

"That's sweet but you're very inebriated right now."

"What are you talking about? my parents aren't brother and sister."

"Not inbred, _Inebriated_, meaning drunk.

"Oh yeah, I'm definitely that."

She smirked and rolled her eyes before shutting the door.

It was a little past midnight by the time they got back to Finn's penthouse, he'd sobered up some but the remaining alcohol in his system coupled with his fatigue still made him a little loopy.

"Finn do you think you can get to your apartment okay?" Rachel said as she opened the door for him.

"Yeah I'll be fine," he said stumbling out of the limo. She tried to keep him from tripping but he was much bigger that she was. Before she knew it he fell into the limo, trapping her underneath him. "Oh god Rachel I'm so sorry" he slurred.

"It's okay, it was an accident," she said.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She tried to climb out but he was far too heavy. "Finn, can you get up?"

"You look really pretty tonight Rachel," he said, still on top of her.

"I look like this every night," she shrugged.

"I know," he said before pressing his lips to hers.

"Finn," she said, breaking the kiss enough to half-audibly say his name. She knew she should stop him, that he was drunk and she was his employee, but she didn't want to, his lips were so soft and the feeling of his body on top of hers was so incredibly right. "Finn we should stop, this is highly inappropriate," she finally said.

"I know but it's nice," he said, giving her another lingering kiss. "You smell amazing" he continued, burying his face in her hair and kissing her neck softly.

"Finn I, we can't… oh forget it," she said finally giving in and kissing him back deeply and passionately. She ran her fingers through his soft hair while he wedged his arms under her body, holding her close. She liked the way he tasted, like licorice. She guessed that he'd been drinking Jagermeister that night.

"Finn, I hope you don't see this as me taking advantage of you," she uttered breathlessly.

"It's okay, I'm not that drunk," he said before meeting her lips with his once again. They didn't know how long they had been kissing when suddenly a light flashed behind them, stopping them in their tracks.

"Finn, what was that?" Rachel said, turning her head frantically, but in the dark all she could make out was a man with disproportionately large hair running away as quickly as possible.


	9. Damage

Rachel stood wide eyed in front of the table wringing her hands to keep them from trembling, she knew she was in trouble, she just didn't quite know how much. There it was, a picture of her and Finn making out in the Limo, and worse still, the Paparazzo from the night before had gotten another shot of them both looking at the camera before he ran away. Everyone in Hollywood knew Rachel's face and it had nothing to do with her singing.

"This is very disappointing Rachel, what is the first rule in the employee handbook?" Mr. Figgins, the owner of the limo service said.

"No fraternizing with famous clients," she said under her breath. "Mr. Figgins I assure you I wasn't attempting to besmirch the good name of your company. What happened with Fi— I mean Mr. Hudson was completely unintentional."

"Am I supposed to believe he fell and you caught him with your lips?" he said sternly.

"Truthfully, that's not far off from what actually happened."

"These pictures are all over the internet, by tomorrow they'll be all over the tabloids. My phone has been ringing off the hook, mostly teenage boys wondering if I charge extra for your services."

"Mr. Figgins, I assure you this will never happen again," Rachel insisted.

"I would have to agree, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to let you go."

"B-but Mr. Figgins I need this job."

"I'm sorry Ms. Berry but my hands are tied. Please turn in your badge and see Gabriella for your final paycheck."

Rachel opened her mouth to say something, but for the first time in as long as she could remember, she had no words. Instead she tossed her badge onto his desk and turned around before he could see the tears glistening in her eyes.

* * *

"Are you out of your goddamned mind Finn?" Puck said as he paced around his distraught friend. "You turn down the hottest chick on the planet so you could play tonsil hockey with your friggin' driver."

"I can't believe this is happening," Finn said looking over the article on his laptop. "This is bad, this is really, really bad."

"No shit, how are we going to explain this to the press?"

"I don't mean bad for me Puck, I've been dealing with this crap since I was 18 years old, I can handle it. Rachel may not be able to. There are going to be paparazzi stalking her for weeks, she could lose her job over this, and for what?"

"Are you kidding me? She's probably loving every minute of this, do you know how many chicks would kill to be caught sucking face with a movie star?"

"I have to go talk to her," Finn said, scrambling up.

"Dude, if you're really worried about Rachel than you need to stay away from her, you can only make things worse."

"I just need to know that she's okay,"

"Finn, what is with you and this chick?" Puck exclaimed

"I care about her, I don't expect you to understand," he said before shoving past Puck.

"Finn, wait," Puck said.

"What?" Finn said.

He reached into his inside pocket. "Here's her address, I got it off that Ben-Israel son-of-a-bitch after I threatened to break his camera."

"What did you want her address for?"

"Damage control, I was going to bribe her not to talk to the press."

Finn clenched his jaw angrily "I'd kick your ass for that but I don't have the time," Finn said taking the address and bolting out the door.

* * *

"I can't believe you would do this Rachel, you knew that I liked him first," Kurt said as Rachel stared in horror at the computer screen.

"Kurt, are you seriously making this about you right now?" Mercedes said.

"Sorry, it's an unfortunate habit," Kurt said. "Rachel, are you going to be okay?"

"I don't know, some of the things they're saying about me are just beyond vile. Look at what this poster on imdb wrote on Finn's page; _'I can't believe he would go from Quinn Fabray to that thing, she's probably just some gold-digging slut. She's not even pretty, for shame Finn, for shame.'_ It's like high school all over again," she said, her voice breaking.

"Ignore him Rachel, he's just some troll with no life," Kurt said. "They don't even know you. You may be exceedingly annoying but you're the furthest thing from a gold-digging slut" he continued putting an affectionate arm around her.

"Thanks, I guess," She said, smiling weakly.

"Rachel, this will all blow over, Hollywood has the attention span of a goldfish," Mercedes said, squeezing Rachel's shoulder.

"How am I supposed to find another job Mercedes? I'm a liability now."

"Rachel, have you ever thought of maybe embracing this? I mean, milking temporary fame is practically an offering at Devry now," Kurt suggested.

"When I came to LA I wanted to be discovered for my talent, not for what I did or did not do with a famous guy. If I go to the press than I'll be becoming everything I've ever hated. Besides, I could never do that to Finn."

"If I weren't so incredibly furious at you for stealing him I'd be giving you a big 'aww' right now," Kurt said.

"Do you want to get that," Rachel said as the doorbell rang. "For the first time since I got here I'm trying to avoid attention.

Kurt got up to answer the door, his jaw nearly dropping to the floor when he saw who it was.

"Hi, you must be Kurt," Finn said.

"I must also be dreaming," Kurt said, wide-eyed.

"Um, is your roommate here? I really need to talk to her."

"Finn?" Rachel said coming up behind Kurt.

"Rachel I really need to talk to you, can we be alone?" Finn said.

"Yeah, we can talk in the hallway."

"No it'll only be a matter of time before someone gets our picture out there, can we talk in your room?"

"Sure, I guess," she said, widening the door to allow him in.

"Finn Hudson is in my apartment," Kurt whispered to Mercedes. "Did I tell Rachel that I love her today? Because I'm starting to think I don't say it enough."

* * *

Rachel and Finn went into her room shutting the door behind them.

"You know they're going to be listening at the door right?" Rachel said.

"It's okay, It's better than Ben-Israel."

"I never thought I would see you again," Rachel said. "The service fired me."

"Rachel I am so sorry, I never should have kissed you like that, I should have known better."

"I wanted you to kiss me, I've wanted you to kiss me for a while," she said quietly.

"I wanted to kiss you for awhile," Finn said back.

"I thought it was just the alcohol," she said sheepishly.

"That's where I got the courage, not the desire."

"Why would you need courage to want to kiss me Finn? I'm nobody."

"Nobody who can sing like you is nobody…" Finn said. "That sounded really awkward but you know what I mean. When I heard you sing, it made me… feel things, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since."

Rachel smiled. "Wow, that's… thank you for saying that," she said, tearing up a little.

"And it's not just your voice you know, you're so beautiful and honest and the way you command the room when you talk it almost makes feel like… I'm nobody."

"You think I'm beautiful?" she said.

"Of course, I mean, look at you." He leaned in slowly until his lips were dangerously close to hers.

"Finn, I can't," she said, stopping him in his tracks.

"Why not?"

"Because, I'd be lying if I said I didn't dream about having my face in all of the tabloids, but not like this Finn. I wanted to be known for my voice not for making out with you in the back of a limo."

"I know how you feel, trust me."

"Then you know why I can't see you until this whole thing blows over. I need to remember why I came here."

"Rachel, I want to make this right. I'll tell the press the truth about what happened."

"The truth makes you sound like some kind of drunken sexual deviant. We'll let them assume what they want and in time they'll have forgotten all about me."

"So what, we just avoid each other until that happens?"

"It shouldn't be that hard, in four years of living here I didn't run into you once."

"What about your job?"

"I'll be okay, you have to focus on yourself now. You don't want to blow your chance at becoming the next Dame Judy Dench do you?" She joked.

"I guess not, but Rachel I can't just forget I ever met you," he argued.

She placed her hands on his face and pulled him in for a soft, lingering kiss. "I don't expect you to," she said, breaking the kiss. "And it would be impossible for me to forget that I ever met you, but if we want to make it through this then we have to pretend for awhile."

"I don' know if I'm that good of an actor," he said before kissing her one last time.


	10. Opportunities

**Sorry for the short chapter, I promise to make the next one longer. **

"Rachel Berry, this is Patrick Morgenstern from The Clearwater, we received your demo tape and we'd love for you to sing for us tomorrow, our saturday regular is out with Laryngitis. The gig is from 7 to 11 with two intermissions, we have your song selections prepared and of course you will be paid quite handsomely. Please call us back if you're interested."

"What do you think?" Rachel said pressing end on her cell.

"I think you're being led into an ambush," Kurt said. "You sent them your demo almost a year ago and they're just now calling you back? I think we both know why."

"Yes I'm aware that the only reason they're calling me back is because of limo-gate but I'm desperate. The rent is due in two days and my last paycheck from the service was barely enough to cover my car note, insurance and cell bill. I don't have any other choice."

"They're going to humiliate you Rachel." Mercedes said.

"You sound like Piper Laurie in_ Carrie_," Rachel said. "I know what the risks are but maybe it won't be so bad, The Clearwater is always crawling with people who matter in the music industry. This might be my chance to finally be heard. This could be just the thing that will fix my reputation."

"Just be careful, none of us want to see you get hurt," Mercedes said.

"And none of us want to be homeless either which is the only reason I'm not fighting you more on this," Kurt chimed in.

"Well, here goes," Rachel said dialing the Club.

* * *

Finn looked dourly in the mirror, thinking he probably looked pretty good all things considered, but it was difficult to care. Most guys would kill to go out with a gorgeous model like Santana Lopez, but he couldn't help but dread the idea.

"Finn are you okay? You look like you're about to walk the green mile right now," Tina said sympathetically.

"I'm fine. I mean I should be happy right? Santana is really hot," Finn shrugged.

"Finn if you don't want to go out with her I can cancel," Tina said. "You don't have to date her just because the opportunity came up."

"I know, that's not why I'm doing this."

"Then why?"

"I'm doing it to protect Rachel," He said. "The press is still all over her, maybe dating someone else will take some of the heat off."

"Maybe," she shrugged. "But…"

"Hold on a sec'," He said as his phone started to ring. "Hello?" he answered.

"Hey Finn, it's Will."

"Hey, how's it going?"

"Well I have some news," Will answered. "I know considering everything that has happened this isn't the most convenient time, but I finally got a call back from a producer who would like to meet with Rachel."

"You're right this is a really inconvenient time," Finn said. "She hasn't spoken to me since, well, you know."

"Well if she wants it bad enough I think she'd be willing to hear you out. His name is Dakota Stanley, I hear he's tough but he's worked with pretty much everyone who's anyone in music. If your girl wants to make it then he's the one to see."

"Okay I guess I can get Tina to drop her a line, I owe her that much. Besides, It won't be like I'm the one talking to her," Finn said.

"So how are things going with the movie?"

"Pretty great actually, I finished shooting my first scene yesterday, my last one's tomorrow. It was the first time in a while I felt like I actually had to act. I'm really glad I took Rachel's advice."

"You miss her don't you?" Will said.

"Well maybe if this whole thing with Dakota Stanley works out I won't have to miss her," Finn said. "Thanks again for helping me out."

"Anytime," Will said.

* * *

Finn had to admit that Santana was a knockout , as she descended the stairs decked in a metallic mini-dress and sky-high heels he actively had to keep his jaw from dropping. But not even the supernatural hotness of his date could keep him from picturing how good Rachel's legs would look in the same dress.

"Just so you know," Santana said as she took a seat in his Mercedes, which had gotten a lot more mileage since Rachel got fired, "The only reason I'm even here is because apparently guys only like to see two girls getting it on with each other if they think they're next in line. Or so my publicist tells me."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that."

"What about you, why are you here?"

"Because my fanbase is made up of guys who project themselves onto me and only want to see me date girls they can't get themselves. Or so my publicist tells _me_."

"So we have an understanding then," Santana said, extending her hand for him to shake.

"I guess so," he said accepting the handshake. "So my assistant made reservations at The Clearwater, unless you want to go somewhere else," he continued.

"Are you kidding, they have the best 28 dollar burger in town, I haven't eaten anything but celery and coffee for the past two days, I'm getting that burger."

"Alright, The Clearwater it is."


	11. Heckled

Rachel made sure that she looked fantastic that night, it was her first public appearance since the world found out who she was, and as much as she hated to give into pressure, she wanted to impress them all. She put on her favorite deep red dress and matching crimson lipstick and pulled her long hair up into a loose bun with tendrils framing her pretty face. She may not have been a star but she certainly looked like one.

"Well don't you look nice?" Mr. Morgenstern, the club owner said, approaching Rachel.

"Thank you, I have to say all of the great things I've heard about your club didn't do it justice."

"Thank you, that's exactly what Brad Pitt said the last time he was here," He gloated, "So our emcee will introduce you, when you hear your name you'll walk out onstage and just do your thing, we encourage talking with the audience a bit but it's not mandatory. What's important is that you just have fun up there."

"Mr. Morgenstern I've been performing since before I could stand, I think I can manage," Rachel said confidently.

"That's great, love your confidence," he said clapping her on the back before leaving her alone behind the curtain. Rachel took a few deep breaths and waited for her name to be called.

* * *

"Oh my god, it's like my taste buds are all having an orgasm," Santana said, enjoying her burger.

"Yeah this is almost as good as manwich night," he joked.

"Huh?" she said confusedly.

"Nevermind," he replied sheepishly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Clearwater," said the emcee, getting up onstage."We have an amazing performance planned for you tonight, now you may not be familiar with her work but she is a very special friend of one of our guests tonight, the incomparable Finn Hudson."

"What is he talking about?" Santana whispered over to Finn as the spotlight shone on them.

"I have no idea," he said worriedly.

"And look at this, he's with Victoria's Secret's own Santana Lopez. Well, you may have moved on sir but I assure you we are all still dying to know all about your quote unquote wild ride from last week… So without further adieu give it up for America's favorite little chauffer…"

"Oh no," Finn said, cringing.

"…Rachel Berry!" As he called her name Finn expected her to come up onstage but the emcee continued to stand there alone as the crowd hooted and hollered, and he always thought it was a classy place.

Rachel's blood ran cold, for the first time in years she couldn't build up the confidence to take the stage, Finn was there with Santana, and he probably thought she was an opportunistic little fame whore.

"What are you doing, get out there," Said Mr. Morgenstern rejoining her backstage.

"I can't do this, she cried. He's out there. Did you know that he was going to be here?"

"That's beside the point. I gave you a job to do. Now if you expect to get paid I suggest you suck it up.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," she said handing him her mic and trying to hold back her tears.

"We had a deal!"

"Well the deal is off," she said beginning to storm out, but before she could get too far her heel became tangled in a stray microphone cord, sending her crashing through the curtain and onto the stage.

"Well it looks like someone was a little tied up," Said the emcee, grabbing Rachel's hand and hoisting her up. She tried not to put too much weight on her rapidly swelling ankle as she stood up and looked into the crowd, halfway expecting a bucket of pig's blood to come crashing down on her head.

"Why hello, I must say that photo didn't do you justice, isn't she lovely, folks?" the emcee continued, receiving an equal amount of applause and boos, the boos mostly courtesy of the girls. "So I hear you're an excellent little singer, why don't you regale the crowd with a nice Broadway standard?" he said handing her his mic.

As the music began to play she tried to think of something, anything to make the situation less painful and embarrassing. She scanned the crowd until she finally spotted Finn, looking every bit as mortified as she felt. After mouthing an 'I'm sorry' to him she lifted her mic and began to sing, at a loss for anything else to do.

_It's good, isn't it grand, isn't it great, isn't it swell, isn't it fun, isn't it… nowadays_

_There's jazz everywhere, men everywhere, booze everywhere, life everywhere, joy everywhere… but nothing stays_

He was close enough to the stage to see the tears glistening in her eyes and he could tell by the way her voice broke and by the horrified look on her face that she didn't want to be there, but still the power and beauty of her voice shone through her tears. Finn still couldn't believe how amazing she was, even in the middle of a semi-breakdown.

_You can like the life your living, you can live the life you like, you can even marry Harry and mess around with Ike—_

"Yeah why don't you mess around with me!" One of the hecklers shouted

She paused for a second, her face going beet red, before continuing the song.

And _it's good, isn't it grand, isn't it great isn't it swell, isn't it fun, isn't it—_

"Take off your top!" yelled a heckler.

"How about giving me a ride Rachel!" yelled another.

"Hey, shut up!" Finn yelled loudly, Rachel met his gaze again and he nodded encouragingly for her to continue.

_...but nothing stays… in fifty years or so, It's gonna change you know, but oh it's heaven nowadays… and that's good, isn't it grand, isn't it great, isn't it swell ,isn't it fun isn't it_

_But nothing stays_

_In fifty years or so, it's gonna change you know… But oh it's heaven nowadays._

As she finished, stronger than she had begun, she wiped her tears and straightened her posture as Finn clapped loudly and cheered her name.

"How about we all give it up for our charming emcee, who's certain to be the next Brian Dunkleman," Rachel said, getting some laughs. "And by the way, I had a clear view of the kitchen when I was backstage, those dinner rolls fell on the floor." She shoved the mic to the speechless emcee and limped offstage as fast as she could.

"Rachel!" Finn said, stumbling out of his seat and catching up to her before she could get too far.

"Finn I'm so sorry, I just came to sing. I didn't know," She said, the tears returning.

"It's okay, they set you up Rachel, they set us both up," He said, rubbing her arms comfortingly.

"Rachel Berry?" said a nasally voice that was all too familiar to Finn. He turned to face him and surely enough it was the Jew-froed vulture himself.

"Get away Ben-Israel," He said, stepping in front of Rachel.

"Now that you've been publicly humiliated beyond repair what are you going to do next?" he said pointing the camera in her face.

"First I'm going to tell you to get a haircut, then I'm going to walk away." She said, starting towards the door, but as she burst through it she was nearly blinded by the flashing of dozens of cameras.

"Ms. Berry how long have you and Finn Hudson been dating?"

"Are you pregnant?"

"Is this your first celebrity?"

"When you took the job with the service did you hope to snag a famous boyfriend?"

She tried to pry her way through, but her mobility was severely limited by her injured ankle and the density of the crowd, it wasn't long before she lost her balance and found herself on all fours on the ground, surrounded by cameras and reporters. At that point all she could think to do was cover her head with her arms as if she were participating in an earthquake drill.

"Why are you doing this to me," she yelled tearfully, wanting nothing more than to disappear. She couldn't believe this was happening, it wasn't as if she had made a sex tape with Finn, all they did was kiss, and yet they wouldn't let up. At this rate she would never be able to leave her apartment again, that is if Sue didn't kick her out. Luckily right before she had time to consider fake passing out she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her body and sweep her up effortlessly. She didn't have to look to know who it was, instead she wrapped her arms around his neck and nestled her face in his shoulder as he carried her away from the chaos.

"Get back!" Finn yelled as he made his way to his Mercedes with Rachel in his arms he set her down and opened the car door allowing her to duck inside. "Santana, I need to get her out of here, do you think you can get a ride home?" he continued as Santana made her way towards the car.

"Well I didn't know how to say this but I was planning to ditch you at the end of the night anyway, Brit called while you were in the bathroom."

"Thank you, I promise your secret's safe with me," he said before getting into the car and speeding off as fast as he could.

"Rachel are you okay?" he said. stroking her back with his free hand as he drove.

"I am the furthest thing from okay," she sobbed. "I was brilliant up there Finn, and nobody cared."

"I cared," he said.

"You're sweet," she said forcing a weak smile and grabbing his free hand. He smiled crookedly at her and squeezed her hand back.

"Where are we going to go?" she said after a few silent moments. "They know where we both live, there's nowhere safe."

"Don't worry," he said. "I know a place."


	12. Safe

After driving for the better part of an hour, Finn had finally reached their destination. The House looked like something from a horror movie. It was nestled in the middle of nowhere and obscured behind rows of thick trees, the only light present came from a small, round window on the second floor.

"What is this place?" Rachel said, wide eyed.

"A friend of mine lives here," Finn replied, putting the car in park.

"Someone lives here?"

"Yeah, he's like a hermaphrodite or something."

"A hermit, you mean?" Rachel corrected.

"Yeah, he sometimes let's me crash here when I need to get away from the fishbowl for awhile."

"So, you're sure this is okay?"

"Absolutely, he's a really cool guy." Finn climbed out of the car and helped Rachel make her way towards the door, he then knocked a clumsy tune, piquing Rachel's curiosity.

"Is that the theme from the A-team?" Rachel said.

"Yeah, he has a weird thing for pop-culture references."

"What's the pass-word?" a voice said from inside.

"Open the door douchebag!" Finn replied.

"Finnster!" the young blonde gentleman answering the door said.

"Saminator!" Finn answered back, embracing him.

"And who is this foxy lady?" Sam said, scoping her out as they entered the house.

"I'm Rachel. And Oh my god, you're Drake Whipple," Rachel beamed

"Actually I'm Sam Evans. But it's nice to meet someone who appreciated my lone attempt at acting."

"Yeah, me and Sam here were buddies in high school, we came out to LA together to try to make in the movie business, both got casted in _Siren Songs_ and the rest is history," Finn explained

"Really depressing history, I still can't wrap my mind around how you got the movie career even though I'm like a million times better looking," Sam joked.

"Hey, you're the one who decided to leave it all behind to write elf stories in this murdery looking place of yours."

"I told you I'm not reemerging until my second book's finished, my publisher is riding me like crazy," Sam said. "But I'm glad you could come out man, it gets pretty lonely out here."

"You know it makes sense that you're such good friends. You have such palpable screen chemistry, and your love scenes were so passionate and emotiona—

"Thank you Rachel," Finn said nervously, cutting Rachel off.

"Dude it's been like six years, are you ever going to be cool with us fake doing it?" Sam said, playfully mussing Finn's hair.

"Considering you came out to me a month later I don't think so," Finn said gently swatting his hand away.

"Well, it was the first time I ever kissed a guy, how was I supposed to know I'd end up being into it?" Sam Shrugged.

"So you're…" Rachel started.

"As rhythmic gymnastics, yes but it doesn't mean I have no appreciation for a fine woman such as yourself," Sam said kissing her hand.

"Why thank you Sam Evans," she said blushing.

"So, not that I mind but you don't usually bring girls here, what's the deal?" Sam said.

"Well I know you're doing the whole unibomber thing but you still have internet right?"

"Sure but… oh, wait a minute, you're the driver aren't you?" Sam deduced.

"Guilty," Rachel said bashfully.

"That photo really didn't do you justice."

"That's what the emcee from tonight said, before he publicly humiliated me and made me too ashamed to show my face in public."

"Do you think she could stay the night?" Finn said.

"Of course, the extra room's always available, but what about you Finn?"

"Well I can take the couch," Finn said.

"Dude, I don't mind if you want to have sex in there, I'm not a puritan," Sam said.

"Well I don't know about that, but Sam's right, I mean, I don't mind sharing if that's okay with you," Rachel said.

Finn smiled, "Actually I'm kind of relieved. Your couch is lumpier than shit, no offense," he said, slapping Sam on the back.

"None taken."

* * *

Finn and Rachel sat together on Sam's guest bed, enjoying the ambience of the room, which like the rest of his house was much warmer and homier than the outside suggested.

"This should do for now," Finn said, holding a makeshift ice pack over Rachel's ankle. "But you have to promise me you'll see a doctor tomorrow," He said.

"I'm fine, it's probably just a sprain," she insisted. "But, it's sweet of you to be so concerned."

"Yeah well, I kind of feel like all of this is my fault."

"Finn, I didn't do anything that I didn't want to do," she said. "And even though you're with Santana now I still want you to know how much knowing you has meant to me," she continued with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Finn knitted his brow in confusion "Rachel, I'm not with Santana."

"What, you're not?"

"No, we went out on one date, and I actually kind of started to feel like a third wheel after the burger came," he said. "To tell you the truth I only went out with her because I thought I was protecting you. I thought if maybe I went out with someone else the press would leave you alone."

Rachel smiled. "I guess I just thought, I mean she's so beautiful."

"Yeah, but she's not like you." Finn said, brushing a stray bit of hair behind Rachel's ear.

"I don't get it Finn, you can have any girl you want," Rachel said looking down.

"Yeah I'm kind of counting on that," Finn said before leaning in slowly to kiss her.

"Finn, I meant what I said you know," Rachel said, stopping Finn in his tracks. "I don't want to be that girl who's rides someone else's coattails to fame. I want to get there on my own merits."

"Rachel I—

"Let me finish," she interrupted. "However, I also don't want to be the girl who misses her chance with someone as kind and wonderful as you are because of her foolish pride."

"So what you're saying is…"

"Let them think what they want," she said, closing the distance between the two of them.

**Sorry for the slow update, I'll try to get the next chapter out faster. And it's going to be a steamy one, you guys have earned it. By the way, I hope you liked my fanfic introduction of Sam, I know he's not gay on the show (so far) but I can't help holding out hope, and this is coming from someone who's not remotely into slash. He and Kurt just have way too much potential from where I'm sitting.**


	13. Breakfast

**Sorry for yet another slow update, super busy week. **

Finn didn't immediately remember where he was upon waking up. The sleek, modern furniture in his apartment was replaced with an earthier set-up and the usual smell of the designer scented candles that Sandy insisted on sending him every month were replaced with the smell of sausage, cinnamon and coffee. It had also taken him a moment to remember the event that brought him there, and the beautiful girl he had just spent the night next to.

"Rachel?" he said groggily, rubbing his eyes. She wasn't there, but he doubted that she got very far on a wounded ankle in the middle of nowhere, even a cab wouldn't have been able to find Sam's place. He got out of bed and followed the intoxicating smell, hoping to find her at the source of it.

"Rachel?" he said, softly in case Sam was still sleeping.

"I know you're mad at me Mercedes and I'm not saying I blame you but what can I do?" Rachel said, cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder as she pulled a pan full of mouthwatering looking muffins from the oven. "I couldn't go back there after what happened, but I promise I'll make this right, the rent isn't due until four, I'm sure I can think of something." Rachel met Finn's glance as he entered the kitchen and gave him a weak smile. "Wait what?" she said looking away from Finn as Mercedes continued to talk. "What do you mean it's taken care of? Well who…" Rachel gave Finn a confused look. "Um, well okay I guess I'll see you later."

"Morning Rachel," he said sheepishly as she snapped the phone shut.

"Finn, did you make a phone call sometime around midnight?" She asked, crossing her arms

"Yeah, I wanted to wait until after you fell asleep, Tina was pretty pissed but if I buy her some shoes she's butter."

"I can't believe you did this, Finn you didn't have to," Rachel said, beaming.

"I know, but I wanted to," he shrugged. "Besides, you cooked me breakfast, consider us even." He said taking a seat at the breakfast table.

"Ah yes, cinnamon apple muffins and turkey sausage, now I am willing to prepare the occasional meat product if I don't have to personally purchase or ingest it but I draw the line at pork," Rachel said.

"Jew thing?" Finn said, taking a big bite of his muffin.

"Mm hmm," Rachel said as she sipped her orange juice.

"Rach, I gotta tell you these have to be the best… anything I've ever tasted" Finn said with his mouth half full. "I wonder where Sam is, he's totally missing out."

"He left a note. 'I'm kicking it in home tree' whatever that means."

"It's his treehouse out in the woods, he goes there to write or look at birds or something." He said polishing off his muffin and beginning to butter a second one.

"How long does that usually take?"

"One time he was out there all day, why?"

"Rachel gave Finn a coy smile and got up from her chair, trying to move as sexily towards him as her injured ankle would allow.

"What are you doing?" He said confusedly as she sat down on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Just giving you a reason to finish that breakfast as quickly as possible."

* * *

Finn frantically carried Rachel into the bedroom not removing his lips from hers the whole way there.

"So are you sure this is okay?" Rachel said as he laid her down on the bed.

"Sure, Sam's not a puritan," he said starting to get to work on the oversized pajama shirt that Sam lent her for the night.

"Finn, before we do this there's something I want you to know," she said pushing him away gently.

"What's that?" he said barely listening as he began to softly kiss her neck.

"Try to listen," she said grabbing his hair gently and pulling him away. "I just want you to know how much I appreciate who you are and what you've done for me," she started.

"You too," he said, kissing her again.

"And even if the media doesn't realize how kind and genuine and adorable you are then you can take comfort in the fact that I do." She continued, pulling him away from her by the hair again. "To me you'll always be Finn, not Finn Hudson the big movie star or the famous lothario, but the Finn who stumbles on his words and loves his mother and sings blue oyster cult songs while intoxicated, the man I care for more than he can possibly know."

"Are you still talking about me?" he said, knitting his brow in confusion. She smiled and kissed him deeply, clearly finished with her speech.

"Rach?" He said breaking the kiss.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you, for saying all that," He said, smiling his crooked smile at her.

"You're welcome, now let's stop talking."

"Thank god," he said pressing his lips to hers in an eager kiss as he continued to unbutton the pajama shirt, as he opened it to reveal her naked body he exhaled sharply, taking it all in. Rachel naked was so much more beautiful than he had pictured in his dream, mostly because she was real this time. He lowered himself back down on top or her and captured her lips in another searing kiss, only stopping for the couple of seconds it took to get his t-shirt up over his head. He'd been with many women before, some of the most beautiful women in the world according to People magazine, but nothing topped this. She wasn't necessarily prettier than any of those other girls, at least not in a technical sense, but she was warm and loving and sexy in a way that he'd never experienced before. This was what real affection felt like. It had been so long since he'd experienced it that he had forgotten.

"You are so goddamn beautiful Rachel," he said between long kisses. She giggled softly and flipped him around effortlessly taking her place on top. He was caught by surprise that a girl so small could overpower him so easily, but he'd be lying if he said it wasn't a bit of a turn on.

He trembled a little as she lowered herself on top of him, allowing her long hair to caress his face as she kissed him with abandon. Although outwardly she was the picture of authority and confidence, inside she felt like a child who just reached the height requirement for a particularly intimidating thrill ride, terrified and excited at the same time. It wasn't so much that he was a celebrity, she had meant everything she had said about seeing him for more than that, it was the simple fact that she had never felt so strongly for a guy since Jesse. Before now she wasn't even entirely sure that she could feel that way again, and as much as it freaked her out she knew she wouldn't trade feeling that way again for anything.

"Let's lose these shall we?" she said, still impressively masking her nerves as she began to pull down his pants. Releasing the massive erection he'd attained in the last few minutes.

"Hmm, I approve," she said inspecting it thoughtfully.

"You're kind of weird you know that?" he said in a way that was teasing and affectionate rather than insulting.

As she began to kiss, lick and nibble every part of him she could comfortably reach, he took advantage of her preoccupation and got back on top of her with a little more effort than he would have liked to admit.

"No fair, I was distracted," She giggled.

"Excuses excuses," he said before kissing her deeply and running his large hand up her silky thigh, allowing her to wrap her long legs around his midsection as he gently penetrated her "Oh god," she said, squeezing her eyes shut and clenching her hands in his hair as he began to glide in and out of her with increasing intensity. She removed her hands from his hair and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, burying her face in the crook of his neck, gently nibbling at him there.

"Oh man Rach he said, enjoying the mild sting from Rachel's playful biting coupled with the toe curling pleasure of being inside of her. He planted his hands down on either side of her as he increased the speed of his thrusts. As he began to tire a little he rested his forehead on her shoulder. "This is amazing, you're amazing," he panted. He looked at Rachel's face and couldn't help but feel a little proud at the way she bit her bottom lip, staving off the urge to scream in ecstasy, the same urge that he himself was trying like mad to suppress.

Finally she let out a telltale moan, her body relaxing under him as she came, he followed immediately behind, collapsing into her and breathing heavily.

"Wow," Rachel said as he rolled off of her.

"Yeah, you too."

**Yes I know that not much of anything happened in this chapter plotwise, but I thought I'd throw you a bit of fluffy Finn/Rachel lovin' before the shitstorm that's about to hit. Hope you liked it. **


	14. Reality

**One week later**

"God, would you hold still?" Kurt said, swatting Rachel's hand away.

"Sorry, it tickles," Rachel said as Kurt continued to affix the fake mustache. "Are you sure this will work?"

"I don't know, I'm just a professional make-up artist," he said sarcastically. "Besides you're lucky that I'm doing this at all after everything you put us through last weekend."

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry? I still have to go incognito just to get out of the apartment. I couldn't just go home after what happened."

"Don't pay him any attention, he's just mad that you stole away the purveyor of his denial," Mercedes said.

"Am not," Kurt said unconvincingly. "So, where's loverboy taking you anyway?"

"It's a surprise, I'm guessing Europe, do you think it's too soon for Europe?"

"A little, yeah," Kurt said. "Okay, all done," he continued, putting the finishing touches on her disguise

"How do I look?" Rachel said.

"Like a tiny, weird little man," Kurt shrugged.

"This is fantastic, thank you Kurt," She said, giving him a not entirely welcome hug.

* * *

"I have to tell you Finn, I may have been wrong about this Rachel chick. The rags are obsessed with this girl and by extension obsessed with you," Puck said, finishing the latest in the stack of tabloids he was reading and tossing it on the in-table.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that this whole thing has completely changed your image. Chicks want you more than ever now, probably because for the first time they think it's actually possible. Not to mention the heroics you pulled on Saturday. Slumming it with Rachel has made you look sweet and relatable, which believe it or not I can actually work with."

"I'm not slumming it Puck."

"Whatever, the point is you're all the press can talk about right now. Good job buddy."

"Thanks, I guess."

"So I'm guessing you're off to see the little newsmaker right now." Puck said, noticing Finn's hoodie.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes."

"Well don't forget the sunglasses, that way you can look like Finn Hudson in a hoodie _and_ sunglasses."

"Do you have a problem with my disguise?" Finn said.

"Hey, if Clark Kent can get away with it…"

"Just give me the glasses," Finn said, snatching them away.

* * *

Finn came up to Rachel's door, feeling lucky that no photographers had followed him there. There were a good number outside of her house, but his disguise proved more effective than Puck had anticipated, still the both of them getting past the swarm would be a bit more challenging. He knocked softly, darting his eyes back and forth to make sure that nobody had followed.

"Um, hey, is this the right apartment?' Finn said, confusedly.

"Finn it's me." Rachel said, happy that her disguise was so effective.

"Whoa, you really went all out," he said smiling, "You might be able to pull off this celebrity thing after all."

"I'm glad you appreciate my work," Kurt said, walking up to Rachel and draping his arm around her. "Perhaps you wouldn't mind spreading the word of my stellar aesthetic abilities? I think you owe me the career boost after kidnapping my roommate."

"_Kurt_," Rachel seethed.

"I'm going," Kurt said throwing his hands up and rejoining Mercedes in the living room.

"Is it weird that I still want to kiss you?" Finn said, grabbing her hand.

"Don't worry I won't tell anyone," she said giving him a tickle with her fake mustache as she kissed him right on the lips.

"Are you going to tell me where you're taking me?" She said as their lips parted.

"All I'm going to say is you may not want to look like a guy when you get there," Finn said.

"Covered, I brought a change of clothes and full make-up kit," she said, patting her messenger bag.

"Alright I'll go out first. Then you follow three minutes later, my car is parked to the left."

"Your Mercedes?"

"No it's a decoy, my Chevy. I've had it since high school, when it came time to buy a new one I guess I just didn't have the heart get rid of it. You never forget your first car."

"Aww I should call you Finny from the block," she said sweetly.

"Please don't."

"Sorry," she said sheepishly.

* * *

When Rachel and Finn arrived at their destination she couldn't help but be a little surprised, she expected something hopelessly romantic, not a cold, sterile building identical to every skyscraper in Los Angeles. Still, she was intrigued.

"Okay, you want to go change in that bathroom." He said, pointing across the hall. "Oh and you're gonna need this," he continued, handing her a strip of black fabric.

"A blindfold?" she said skeptically

"Just trust me," he said, smirking, "I'll be right here."

After sloughing the spirit gum off of her face applying her make-up and changing into her favorite dress and cardigan, Rachel looked like the furthest thing from guy, although the wig left her hair a bit frizzier than she would have liked. She took one last approving look in the mirror before applying the blindfold and carefully meeting him outside.

"Alright, follow me," he said taking her hand.

"Are you sure nobody is going to notice me?"

"Oh they're noticing you all right, but don't worry, the paps aren't allowed in here."

"Thank god for that. Is it totally useless for me to ask what you're up to?"

"Yes, just be patient,"

After about five minutes and what fell like two elevator rides they had finally reached their destination.

"Okay, I'm going to take off the blindfold in 3…2…1," Finn said, removing it.

Rachel winced a little as her eyes readjusted to the light. As she recognized where she was she gave Finn a big smile.

"Finn is this a…

"Recording studio, yes. And you my girl have an exculsive meeting with the one and only Dakota Stanley."

"Dakota Stanley? He handles everyone who matters in the music business, are you serious?"

"Dead serious."

"Oh my god!" she squealed, giving Finn a crushing hug. "This is insane, what do I do, what should I sing?"

"How about something short?" said the shrill little man entering the studio alongside an attractive brunette. "I have a meeting with Fergie this afternoon. I'm Dakota Stanley, but of course you know that, and this is my associate producer Shelby, but of course there's no need to know that."

"It'd an honor to meet you both," Rachel said, extending her hand for him to shake, he simply rolled his eyes and cut past her. Rachel shrugged and shook Shelby's hand instead.

"I don't have all day Shelby, get Ms. Berry here set up," Dakota said.

"Right this way," Shelby said with a hint of exasperation in her voice.

Rachel took her place in the studio and put on the set of head phones as Shelby began to adjust the equipment.

"Whenever you're ready sweetie," Shelby said.

"Okay, I'm ready," Rachel said timidly.

"Do you recognize this song?" Shelby said playing a familiar tune into the box.

Rachel smiled and nodded before beginning to follow along with the beat.

_Head under water_  
_And they tell me to breathe easy for a while_  
_The breathing gets harder, even I know that_  
_Made room for me but it's too soon to see_  
_If I'm happy in your hands_

_I'm unusually hard to hold on to_  
_Blank stares at blank pages_  
_No easy way to say this_  
_You mean well, but you make this hard on me_  
_I'm not gonna write you a love song_  
_'cause you asked for it_  
_'cause you need one, you see_

_I'm not gonna write you a love song_  
_'cause you tell me it's_  
_Make or break in this_  
_If you're on your way_  
_I'm not gonna write you to stay_  
_If all you have is leaving I'm gonna need a better_  
_Reason to write you a love song to—_

"Okay, no" Dakota, said shutting her off.

"Um, is there something wrong?" Rachel said.

"Yes, this is all wrong," he said gesturing towards her. "You're all wrong."

"What are you talking about? She was fantastic," Finn protested.

"I'm inclined to agree," Shelby said.

"I'll admit that you have talent, but you look like something out of little house on the prairie. And for god sake, nose job, have you ever heard of one?"

"Hey!" Finn said.

"I'm not finished, your mannerisms, your weird little facial expressions, nothing about you reads star, more like tragic community theatre diva. Now I gave you a shot because I thought your built-in celebrity might make this easy for me but once your fifteen minutes are up selling you to the public is going to be next to impossible,"

"Look you little Jackass," Finn started.

"No it's okay Finn," Rachel interrupted. "Look, I know you think you're special because you stomp all over people's dreams for a living and sleep like a baby at night, but you're not. It's easy to be a total jerk in this city, especially when you have lots of undeserved money and the vague appearance of a hobbit. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to storm out of here now," Rachel said, happy that her sprained ankle was healed enough to march out with aplomb.

"Rachel, wait" Finn said, going after her. The confidence she had shown when telling off Dakota Stanley hade completely fallen away, and she was now walking down the hallway, reduced to bitter tears.

"Rachel, I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

"It's okay Finn, it was really sweet of you to try to help me," she said, wiping her eyes.

"Look, that guy is a jerk, you can't let him get to you," Finn said, rubbing her arms comfortingly.

"I can't believe I wore this outfit."

"Rachel, come on, you look adorable."

She gave him a weak smile, "I guess adorable doesn't sell."

"There'll be other shots, I promise."

"Not like this. Look, I think I'm going to go clear my head. Do you mind driving yourself back home?"

"I don't want to leave you alone."

"It's okay, I'll be fine," she put her hands on his shoulders and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. "I just need to get back to the real world for awhile."

* * *

Finn sat at his usual table on the café patio, ignoring his cappuccino and waiting for Rachel to call, it had been nearly 24 hours since he'd heard from her. He tried to resist the urge to call, it was clear that she needed a bit of space, he just wished he knew how long that was going to take.

"Finn?" a familiar voice said. Finn looked up to see Quinn walking towards him, shopping bags in tow.

"Oh, hey Quinn," He said dourly.

"Wow, It's been awhile."

"I know. How are you?"

"Good, I'm actually just getting back from Milan, what about you. How's what's her name?" She said inviting herself to sit across from him.

"Rachel? She's fine, I guess."

"Look, Finn I was thinking about what you said at the party that night and…

"And what?"

"And you were right, this Rachel thing has really got me thinking. You've never been the kind of guy to care about what the right girl could do for your status. And that's such a rare thing in this city and in this business, I guess I just didn't appreciate it. I didn't appreciate you, and I'm sorry."

"It's okay Quinn, I'm over it."

"That's the thing Finn," she said hesitantly. "I'm not."

"What?" he said confusedly.

"I've missed you," she said leaning in to kiss him.

**Sorry again for the string of slow updates. I've started writing a graphic novel, which along with school and work takes up a lot of my time. But this story will get finished. It will probably go for about five or six more chapters. BTW just in case you were wondering, Shelby is not Rachel's mother in this universe.**


	15. Leaving

**Sigh, I'm bummed right now, and I'm sure you all know why. But I must soldier on with this story. I don't think there's any point in apologizing about my lack of updating anymore, I'm starting to sound like a broken record. But a lot of things have happened since my last update that may or may not affect the fic. They are as follows.**

**1. I actually kind of like the pairing of Brittany and Artie**

**2. I don't really like Sam anymore**

**3. I do kind of like Blaine**

**4. I still ship Finn and Rachel (naturally) but I'm a little annoyed with the way they're being written right now**

**So now that you're updated on my feelings towards the show, let's get on with the Fic shall we?**

Finn's heart pounded vigorously in his chest as he knocked on the door. Part of him hoped to god that she didn't see it, the stupid part apparently, because there was no way in hell that she hadn't seen it. The pictures were everywhere. He'd ended the kiss as soon as it happened, but the damage was done. Ben-Israel was in exactly the right place at exactly the right time, for him anyway. For everyone else involved, his timing couldn't have been worse.

"Why, if it isn't the slimeball himself?" Kurt said as he answered the door for a very guilty looking Finn. "Don't bother, she doesn't want to see you."

"Look, those pictures… it isn't what you think, Quinn kissed me, I pushed her off."

"I really wish I could believe you," Kurt said.

"Then believe me, look Quinn Fabray is not trying to get back together with me, she was just trying to get her face in the papers again."

"Well it worked, these pictures are everywhere. Do you have any idea how humiliating this is for Rachel?"

"I know, look, just let me talk to her, just for a minute."

"Don't bother," Rachel said, exiting her room behind a stern looking Mercedes.

"Rachel, what are you doing?" Finn said, noticing the luggage she dragged behind her.

"I'm going home Finn," She said.

"That's right you owe us a new roommate you third rate Ben Affleck," Mercedes sniped.

"You're leaving?" Finn said.

"What do you expect me to do? You've actually made me hate getting attention, do you have any idea how big that is for me?" Rachel said.

"Look you can't just leave, everybody knows you in Lima, do you really think it'll be any better for you there?" Finn Argued.

"At least there I can make an honest living, my dad is the fine arts administrator at my old school, he offered me a job doing office work and coaching the glee club after school. I had to accept it, nobody will hire me here, I botched my first real chance at being taken seriously as an artist and now the one good thing I had going in my life is all over the tabloids kissing Quinn Fabray."

"Rachel, I didn't cheat on you, she kissed me."

"Right, the most beautiful girl in the universe kissed you. So what now? Do I just sit idly by why models throw themselves at you to boost their pathetic little careers? How can I compete with that Finn?" She said, frantically circling the room, grabbing her purse, plane tickets and every last thing that she needed to disappear for good.

"I'm not asking you to compete with her," Finn said.

"It was a mistake for me to come here, it was a mistake for me to ever get involved with you. God, what was I thinking?"

"Rachel can you just calm down for a second," Finn said, grabbing her by the shoulders and stopping her in her tracks. "I want to make this right."

"How, how can you make this right? No matter what you say the press is going to think what they want. And what they want to think is that once you got tired of slumming it with the help you finally came to your senses."

"Is that what _you_ think?" Finn said.

"What am I supposed to think?" she said, tears glistening in her eyes. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a plane to catch." Before Finn could say another word Rachel turned to hug Kurt and Mercedes.

"I'll send for the rest of my things," Rachel said, "Thank you guys for everything." She said before disappearing out the door.

**I know long wait, short chapter. But fanfics are always easier to crank out during a hiatus, which the show is now in, so expect quicker updates from now on. If not, feel free to yell at me via PM.**


	16. Avoidance

Rachel wanted to answer the phone all of the times Finn had called her, she wanted to in the worst way, but she knew that if she did she wouldn't be able to stop herself from catching the first flight back to Los Angeles, and once that happened she knew that it would only result in more heartbreak. She knew that he was telling the truth about Quinn. Finn wasn't the smartest guy in the world, but he had to have known better than to get himself into that situation willingly, especially after everything they had been through. She didn't keep her distance because she was mad at Finn, she just knew in her heart that they couldn't work, not if she couldn't become famous, which after the incident with Dakota Stanley seemed less likely than ever, so she ignored his phone calls and tried her best to get on with life normally. The last thing she ever thought she would want to be was normal, but she had to admit it felt nice. Of course there were the occasional whispers, and the kids in glee couldn't help but ask a million questions about what it was like to date Finn Hudson, but it was infinitely better than the constant media circus that surrounded her in Los Angeles.

"So have you found a new Roomate yet?" Rachel said to Mercedes, it was approaching midnight in Ohio, but she wasn't too tired to talk to a good friend.

"Yeah, a guy named Blaine, I think Kurt is in love," Mercedes answered.

"Is he at least gay this time?" Rachel said.

"Mercifully yes, I'm so relieved, I was starting to worry about the guy."

"Well, tell Kurt congratulations on his appropriate crush. It's been a long time coming."

"So how are you?"

"I don't know, alright I guess. I miss you guys."

"We miss you too, we're all wondering when you plan on coming back."

"That's the thing Mercedes, I don't know if I am."

"What, so you're just going to give up your dream just because of some guy? Who the heck are you?"

"It's not just Finn okay. I had my shot and I blew it, there's no coming back from what happened with Dakota Stanley. I have to face the fact that my chances of making it are practically non-existent. Maybe my time is just better served passing on my false dreams and fading into obscurity."

"I'm going to ask you one more time, who the heck are you?" Mercedes repeated. "The Rachel I know would never give up like this, but I guess she always was a drama queen, that part's still there at least."

"I am not being a drama queen," Rachel said.

"Oh please you're the entire Royal family of drama. Look once you're done nursing this little funk of yours and this Finn business blows over you better get your butt back in LA."

"But Merced—"

"But nothing. Goodnight." Mercedes said curtly, before hanging up the phone.

"Goodnight Mercedes," Rachel said, trying to force away the feeling that Mercedes was right about everything.

* * *

Finn sat alone at his wet bar, nursing his scotch on the rocks as Puck paced behind him, frustrated with the latest in the long line of Finn Hudson pity parties.

"You have to get out of this funk dude, she won't return your phone calls, she defriended you on facebook, face it, she's gone."

"I'm not in a funk, I've just accepted the fact that she isn't coming back and I'm really depressed about it."

"Yeah, that's called being in a funk."

"I can't believe her, I didn't do a thing to deserve her walking out on me like this," Fin said, taking another sip of his scotch. "She thinks she's so perfect with her little sweaters and good singing, but she's not. All she ever does is judge everyone and wear her little sweaters and sing good."

"Dude, you're drunk," Puck said.

"I am not," Finn lied.

"I don't get why you're so upset, you've gotten way hotter chicks than her," Puck said.

"It wasn't about that man, I mean, she believed in me you know? She was the only one who did besides my mom and Will, the only difference is I could have sex with her," Finn slurred. "She made me feel like I was… better. I miss that, I miss her."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have kissed your ex in broad daylight."

"For the last time she kissed me," Finn said. "You sound just like Rachel, she didn't even give me a chance to explain, she just took off. God, I hate her… no, no I don't. I didn't mean that... I love her."

"Wait, what?" Puck said, stopping in his tracks.

"I love Rachel, but it doesn't matter because she left me. And now all I have is you, the guy I pay thousands of dollars to so I'm not so alone all of the time. That's my life, I have to pay for a best friend."

"Okay, I'd love to stay and chat but you're more depressing to be around than a cutter reading a Nicolas Sparks novel," Puck said, grabbing his coat. "Are you going to be okay man?"

"Yeah, I was thinking of calling Santana anyway."

"Dude that's what I'm talking about, you could definitely use a sympathy lay."

"You're damn straight. I'm done crying over Rachel. It's time to move on, if she doesn't want to talk to me, I don't want to talk to her."

"Alright, stay strong buddy," Puck said, clapping him on the back before letting himself out.

Finn reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, he couldn't believe it had come down to drunk dialing Santana, but he couldn't stop himself. Before he knew it he had pressed send. It wasn't that he wanted to be with Santana in any particular way, all he really wanted was to call someone who would answer her phone for once, and it was becoming increasingly clear that that person wasn't Rachel.

"Santana Lopez," She answered after six rings.

"Hey Santana, it's Finn, can you come over?"

**Believe it or not this is actually the second to last chapter. I hope you guys have enjoyed this story in spite of my super slow updates, I've thoroughly enjoyed writing it and I can't wait for you to read what happens next. Stay tuned and Happy Holidays!**


	17. Comfort

_Hey pretty baby with the high heels on, you give me fever like I never ever known_

_And something something of loveliness_

_I like the something of your walk your talk your dress…_

…_Ooh the way you make me feel (the way you make me feel)_

_You really turn me on (you really turn me on)_

_You sweep me— I mean you knock me off of my feet (you knock me off my feet)_

_My lonely days are gone (my lonely days are gone)_

Drunk as ever, Finn danced even more awkwardly than usual and sang along with the radio as he waited for Santana to arrive. He knew a girl like her wouldn't exactly rush over there, so he had time to collect himself a bit, which considering the extent of his drunkenness wouldn't be nearly enough.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, faster than he would have expected.

"Hello?" Finn said confusedly

"Let me in Gigantor."

"Who is that?" Finn said.

"Um, you called me, remember?"

"Oh, Santana." Finn said, opening the door. He was surprised by how fast she had come over and how she looked. Aside from some lip gloss she wasn't wearing any makeup, her hair was pulled up in a ponytail and her usual stylish threads were replaced with a simple tank top, jeans and a Baby Phat hoodie. She still looked gorgeous, just in a different way.

"So, you ready to do this cowboy?" Santana said taking off her hoodie and tossing it on the floor.

"Do what?" Finn said confusedly.

Instead of answering, she threw her arms around Finn and pressed her lips to his. He was unable to react as quickly as he would have liked with all of the alcohol in his system, but with a bit of struggle he was able to gently push her away.

"What the hell is the matter with you Finn? I thought this is what you called me over here for."

"Umm, no," Finn said. "That's just what I told Puck."

"Well, that's just great," Santana said.

"Don't take it the wrong way, I mean you're super hot and everything, I just don't want do sex stuff with you… and I have a feeling that you don't really want to with me either."

"No, I'm fine with it," Santana said, kissing him again.

He pushed her away once more, "No you're not, you're totally a lesbian. You're just trying to get in my pants because you're lonely."

Santana looked down and rubbed her arms nervously. "Okay I think I'm gonna go."

"No, please don't go Santana"

"Why am I even here?"

"Because of this," Finn said, clumsily grabbing the tabloid off of the stool and handing it to her. "Page 23."

Santana flipped through the magazine until she reached the correct page. It was Brittany and DJ wheels, looking awfully cozy at the Victoria's Secret fashion show.

"So what? You think I care about what she does?" Santana said, tossing it back down.

"Of course you do, because you love her, and she left you for DJ Wheels, and I love Rachel and she left me for, well I'm still not sure, I think a bunch of kids."

"I should have known this was about that dwarf," Santana said rolling her eyes.

"It's not just about her. It's about you and me," Finn said. "We're in the exact same boat. We're two lonely, pathetic famous people. Face it, we need each other."

"So what you're saying is you got wasted and invited a smoking hot underwear model over to your apartment at ten o'clock at night so you could… talk?"

"That's what I'm saying," Finn said. "Do you think that makes me a chump?"

"Kinda," she shrugged.

"So, what do you say, did you want to hang out with me tonight, maybe trade evil girlfriend stories?"

Santana just looked at him for a moment. He could tell that she was a second away from breaking down, but when it happened he couldn't help but be a little surprised, he'd never seen Santana Lopez cry before, he wasn't even aware that she had tear ducts. He rubbed her back comfortingly as she collapsed into him, crying bitterly into the front of his shirt.

"You okay?" he said as she pulled away.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, wiping her eyes. "You got anymore scotch?"

* * *

Rachel couldn't sleep at all that night. Mercedes' words had stuck with her more than she was willing to admit, even to her dads who gave her the third degree every chance they got. She'd tried everything, warm milk, a boring movie, rereading _Broadway Musicals of the 1940's_ for the 50th time. Nothing worked. When it had reached 3 am she knew that the lack of sleep was messing with her mind. All she could think about was Finn, she wished that she could see him, just for a second. But of course it was just then that she realized she could see him anytime she wanted. Thank god that one of her dads had a weird thing for Michael Bay movies.

She got up out of bed and shuffled towards her dad's media room. It didn't take long to find _Battleground 2_, right between _Bad Boys_ and _The Island_. She slipped it in and made herself comfortable on the couch. It was the first time she ever felt excited about watching _Battleground 2_, now she knew how Kurt felt.

"_If you don't give me the formula I'm going to put three bullets through her skull," Keanu Reeves/Dr. Malcolm Bourguinness said._

"_Oh I can give you the formula, but I'm not sure how well it'll work on a dead man." Finn/John Falco said._

"_Ha, you're funny, but if I were you I would do Jenna here a favor and stop joking around with her life Falco."_

"_Don't be a hero John!" Amber Heard/Jenna Ferrier yelled._

"_Sorry baby, but that's my job," Finn/John said before throwing the formula into the air, distracting Keanu/Malcolm for just long enough to release Amber/Jenna._

Usually Rachel would be laughing about how embarrassing the dialogue was, but all she could do was cry. She paused the movie on Finn's gorgeous, dirt smeared face and got up from her chair, unable to take anymore.

* * *

Finn and Santana sat on his balcony chairs knocking back drinks and wallowing in self pity.

"You know, part of me doesn't really blame her. I was so focused of keeping my secret that I pushed her away, just like everyone else," Santana said.

"Yeah, I guess you kind of blew it there."

"Cock," Santana said, smacking Finn's arm.

"Give me a break, I'm totally inbred right now… that was one of Rachel's words."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"You know what you should do?" Finn said, "You should stand outside Brittany's apartment and hold a boombox over your head. That's what that one guy did in this movie Rachel showed me back at Sam's place."

"Where would I find a boombox in 2010?"

"Ebay?" Finn shrugged.

"You're one to give me advice gigantor, here you are bitching to me about how much you want your girl back and instead of going after her you're getting blasted with me."

Finn knitted his brow at her, "you know what, you're totally right." Finn said, scrambling up out of his chair and falling in the process.

"Where are you going?" Santana said as Finn picked himself up off of the ground.

"First I'm going to call us both a cab, then I'm going to go get my girl back." Finn said leaving Santana alone on the balcony.

"Good for you, cowboy, by the way I'm taking this home with me," she said grabbing the half empty bottle of 12 year old scotch.

**Yes, I know that I'm supposed to hate Santana but I really don't. And even though I don't want her anywhere near Finn in a romantic way, I think it would be cool if they became friends on the show (like for example, he finds out that she likes girls and helps her through it). I feel the same way about Puck and Rachel, they absolutely don't work as a couple in my opinion but they work together in a platonic way. Sorry if I made it seem like Finn was going to make a stupid mistake with Santana, I just live to screw with you guys. One chapter to go, thanks a lot for reading.**


	18. Spotlight

**Thank you all for following this story and for all of your great reviews. You're beyond awesome. Well, here is the final chapter before the epilogue. I hope you enjoy it.**

Finn pried open his eyes with Herculean effort. His vision was blurry and his head felt like it had been split open with a tomahawk. He had never been more hung over in his life. It had taken a second to remember where he was. He rubbed his eyes vigorously and reopened them. As his vision began to clear up, the first thing he saw was a small girl sitting across the aisle from him, smiling enthusiastically.

"Umm, hey," Finn said nervously, trying to sit up in his seat.

"You're a movie star aren't you?" the little girl said.

"I guess you can say that," Finn said sheepishly

"I'm going to be a movie star too."

"Oh yeah?" Finn said, yawning.

"Yeah, I'm going to be in my school's play. I wanted to play Dorothy, but they made me a Munchkin instead," she said sadly. "They gave the part to this mean girl Liz just because she has long hair."

"Hey, that's alright," Finn said, "They gave my part to Anton Yelchin."

"Haylie, leave Mr. Hudson alone," said the girl's mother.

"It's okay," Finn said. The woman shrugged and went back to reading her book.

"So, why are you going to Ohio?" Haylie said.

"To see a girl," Finn said.

"That's nice, I'm going to see my grandma."

"Mr. Hudson, can I get you anything?" Said the flight attendant passing by.

"A water and Tylenol please," Finn said.

"Are you sick?" said Haylie as the flight attendant went to fetch his water.

"No, not sick I just have a really bad hang— I mean, yeah," Finn said.

"When I'm sick I like to eat tomato soup with goldfish crackers," she said.

"Hey me too," Finn said, perking up.

"Like when you were a kid?" she said

"Heck no, I still do," he said.

"You're funny," she said, giggling.

"Thanks," said Finn, both to Haylie and to the flight attendant who brought him his water. "So a Munchkin huh?"

"Yeah, it's lame I know." she said.

"Are you kidding? The munchkins were always my favorite," he said.

Haylie perked up a little at his reassurance. "So what's she like? The girl you're going to see? Is she pretty?"

"Yeah, she's very pretty. She's kind of mad at me though."

"Why, what did you do?"

"Well let's just say it can be kind of hard being Finn Hudson's girlfriend," Finn said.

"Why? You're super cute," She said.

"Well, thanks kid. I happen to think you're super cute too."

Haylie tried to contain her giant smile.

"I hope your girlfriend takes you back," she said.

Finn put his head back down and smiled hopefully, "Yeah, me too"

* * *

Rachel had been glee club director for only a week but she had already begun to feel attached to the kids. They all reminded her of her, she could tell that their dreams were too big for Lima, just like hers were way back when. She wondered where everything went wrong, why she decided to leave it all behind at the drop of a hat. Would the kids in glee turn out the same way, and what kind of role model could she really be having given up the way that she did. As she pondered all of these things the apprehension she felt over the decision she'd made early that morning began to fall away.

"Hey Ms. Berry," a few of the kids said in unison.

"Guys, there's something I have to tell you all, Rachel said as she entered the choir room, but first I want to tell you just how much you—

"Oh my god it's Finn Hudson! Interrupted Bridget, one of Rachel's students. Rachel turned around in shock. Sure enough it was Finn entering the choir room with his hands in his pockets and his head down, looking the very opposite of the confident heartthrob the world knew. As the kids clambered up to Finn to ask questions and request pictures and autographs Rachel just looked on in shock.

"Did you really do all of your own stunts in the Battleground movies?"

"Did you really date Megan Fox?"

"Are you here for Ms. Berry?"

"Will you sign my forehead?"

"Finn, what are you doing here?" Rachel said once the frenzy finally started to die down.

"Rachel can we talk?" Finn said.

"Yeah, yes I would like that," Rachel said. "We'll be right back," Rachel said.

"No!" the kids protested.

"Finn, what happened, are you alright?" Rachel said as they entered the hallway.

"I'm fine, I just thought I would come here and maybe, you know, ask you to come back."

"Oh," was the only thing Rachel managed to say.

"Look, I'm not saying we have to be together or anything, although I'd like that. I just… I don't want you to give up on your dream because of me. You're just too talented Rachel. You have too much to offer and I know that these kids need you but, you know, maybe once you finish the semester you can consider maybe going back. Not just because I miss you, although I do miss you a lot, but just because you owe it to yourself. And I know what happened with Quinn was awful but you have to know that it didn't mean anything and if I could take it back I would. I'm so sorry that I hurt you Rachel, now would you please come home?"

Rachel just looked at him, mulling over what he had said.

"Um, did you have anything you wanted to say?" Finn said, breaking the silence.

"Finn, there's something I want to show you," Rachel said grabbing Finn by the wrist. She led him down the hall to the administration building. Luckily everyone was either gone for the day or hidden behind their cubicle, because she got Finn to her desk without being seen.

"Sit down," Rachel said, gesturing towards her desk chair. Finn obliged, still confused about what Rachel's angle was. "Look at what's on the screen Finn."

Finn did as he was told, "Umm Rachel I have no idea wh—

As he looked closer he saw that the page was open to Expedia and the last thing she had done before going to glee practice was to purchase a one way ticket to Los Angeles.

"So everything I just said…"

"Completely unnecessary, yes. But very sweet," Rachel said. "Look Finn," she continued, sitting next to him. "I didn't leave because of Quinn, I left because of me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember when I told you that I used to not be able to handle being out of the spotlight?"

"Yeah," Finn said.

"Well that was true, except for the 'used to' part. The truth is I'm still that same egomaniacal drama queen that I always was, it just took getting famous for being ordinary to realize it. I guess I've just never done well with ordinary."

"But you're not Rachel."

"But that's the way I felt when we were together."

"Well if that's the way I make you feel…"

"No Finn, don't misunderstand me," She said, reassuringly putting her hand on his knee. "That's not the way you made me feel, it's how everyone else made me feel. It's how I made me feel. The truth is I was being a huge brat, just like I always am when things don't go my way. But once I came here I realized how ridiculous I was being and I decided to go back… the question is, do you still want to be with me when I get there?"

Finn let out a low whistle, "After hearing all of that… well… yeah."

Rachel perked up a bit, "Really?"

"Look, you're not perfect Rachel, I get that, but neither am I. And you know, that's okay."

Rachel smiled, and threw her arms around him, "Thank god. I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, but what about the glee kids?" Finn said.

"Well, they'll be disappointed, I doubt whoever they replace me with will have my flawless technique, but between you and me I think they all wondered what I was doing here when I could be in LA working towards stardom and making out with my gorgeous movie star boyfriend."

"So I'm your boyfriend again?" Finn said.

"If you can handle it, It's not easy being Rachel Berry's boyfriend."

"Yeah, but it's worth it," Finn said, before leaning in to kiss her.

The End


	19. Epilogue

**Well this is it. Even though it got kind of hard to write towards the end with the break-up and everything, I'm so glad I finished it. I'm not sure when my next story will be since I'll be busy with my Graphic novel and catching up on piles of reading, but I do have a one-shot floating around out there that I wrote at the same time as this one. The lack of reviews on it still make me sad. If you haven't read it yet it's on my profile.**

**Until next time enjoy this epilogue**.

"How many times are you going to read that thing?" Finn said entering the living room in his tuxedo.

"Well, don't you look nice?" Rachel said, putting down the copy of Entertainment Weekly and getting up to straighten Finn's bowtie.

"Yeah? You don't think the bowtie is too much?" He said.

"Are you kidding, the first time one of your movies is nominated for an Oscar and you don't want to go all out?"

"Well it's not like I was nominated," Finn said. "I wouldn't want to upstage Jeff Bridges on his night."

"You may not have been nominated but you got excellent reviews across the board, I bet they at least considered you."

"Hey, it's okay, I'm happy. Taking that part was the best decision I've ever made and it was all because of you," He said.

"Hey, guess what?" Tina said entering the room.

"I watched Ellen today, I already know that Santana Lopez came out," he said.

"No, you got another review!"

"Really? I thought the reviews were all out months ago," he said confusingly.

"Not you Finn, Rachel." Tina said, handing Rachel the Rolling Stone magazine she was carrying.

"Oh my god, really?" Rachel said, flipping through the magazine. "After gaining some notoriety last year as the mysterious Limousine driving paramour of Hollywood superstar Finn Hudson, Rachel Berry's announcement that she was to record a CD written and produced by former Dakota Stanley protégé Shelby Corcoran, left audiences and critics cynical at best and outraged at worst. Well, the skeptics should prepare to eat their words. Berry's debut CD is nothing short of a brilliant showcase for a stunning new vocal talent…"

Unable to finish reading Rachel blinked back the tears that were threatening to ruin her make-up.

"Hey don't cry, Read it again, it sounded like a good review to me," Finn said cluelessly.

"It was a good review Finn," Tina said. She's crying because she's happy.

"Oh I forgot, yeah she actually does that a lot."

"Oh my God, this is amazing" Rachel said, throwing her arms around Finn, then Tina.

"I always knew you could do it," Finn said.

"So, are you guys ready to hit that Red carpet?" Tina said.

"We were born ready," Rachel said, pulling herself together and linking her arm through Finn's, "Finn, how do I look?"

"Like a star." Finn said meaning every word.


End file.
